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| Iraq | |
| Iraq tells U.N. that 'terrorist groups' seized nuclear materials | |
| 2014-07-10 | |
| [Reuters] Insurgents in Iraq have seized nuclear materials used for scientific research at a university in the country's north, Iraq told the United Nations in a letter appealing for help to "stave off the threat of their use by terrorists in Iraq or abroad." Nearly 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of uranium compounds were kept at Mosul University, Iraq's U.N. Ambassador Mohamed Ali Alhakim told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the July 8 letter obtained by Reuters on Wednesday. "Terrorist groups have seized control of nuclear material at the sites that came out of the control of the state," Alhakim wrote, adding that such materials "can be used in manufacturing weapons of mass destruction." A U.S. government source familiar with the matter said the materials were not believed to be enriched uranium and therefore would be difficult to use to manufacture into a weapon.
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| Posted by:Anguper Hupomosing9418 |
| #9 How much of what isotope are these nuclear materials? Basic refined Uranium metal would be 99.25% U238, of negligible radioactive risk - in fact barely more radioactive than anti-tank projectiles. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2014-07-10 15:37 |
| #8 Could a SCUD be used as a radiological dispersal device? I don't know how practical/feasible this scenario would be: Load a SCUD up with uranium. Launch it at Tel Aviv. Then watch on as Iron Dome blows it up over the city. Geiger counters go off the charts while panic ensues. |
| Posted by: mossomo 2014-07-10 13:39 |
| #7 ISIS did promise another Holocaust the other day. |
| Posted by: mossomo 2014-07-10 13:13 |
| #6 First, TW, thank you for the yeoman work you've been doing. Second... the news article you linked to from CNN reminds me of the following: From Douglas Adams' Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul: When a passenger check-in desk at Terminal Two, Heathrow Airport, shot up through the roof engulfed in a ball of orange flame the usual people tried to claim responsibility. First the IRA, then the PLO and the Gas Board. Even British Nuclear Fuels rushed out a statement to the effect that the situation was completely under control, that it was a one in a million chance, that there was hardly any radioactive leakage at all and that the site of the explosion would make a nice location for a day out with the kids and a picnic, before finally having to admit that it wasn't actually anything to do with them at all. I keep thinking one day Brooklyn or Baytown is going to be vaporized, and as the mushroom cloud is rising there are going to be newscasts saying "Authorities have said they're not sure of the cause, but they've already ruled out terrorism or other acts of war..." |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2014-07-10 13:02 |
| #5 I thought Carter did the most damage to the united states as president by shutting down HUMINT. I am now corrected. This Uranium, will find its way into a bomb, be it a dirty bomb or one to just terrorize and cripple a nation like the US or Israel. Not having the political will to come to a SOFA will be a poor excuse when we see a major city in terror. "When politicians fail, chaos wins". |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2014-07-10 12:26 |
| #4 Thank you, Mr. Bobby. That's the direction I was headed. Incidentally, CNN has the following headline on the subject: U.S. officials: Terrorist seizure of nuclear materials in Iraq of minimal concern |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2014-07-10 11:36 |
| #3 ..like a lower primate shouting, displaying his arms and genitals desperate to get some sort of hierarchical standing among the other creatures at the edge of the pack. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2014-07-10 10:35 |
| #2 More folks would be killed in the ensuing panic, Ms. Periwinkle, than from dirty-bomb radiation. Which, I am sure, would be fine with the terrorists. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2014-07-10 08:03 |
| #1 Just remember folks, Iraq doesn't have anything like this, so it's all OK. |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2014-07-10 07:15 |