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2003-03-01 East/Subsaharan Africa
Radioactive Material Stolen in Nigeria
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Posted by Fred Pruitt 2003-03-01 08:51 am|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07]  Top

#1 Given that this is Nigeria, terrorists stealing it can be put down the list.

1. Stolen by someone who has no idea wht it is. Rationale: folks there are constantly blowing themselves up tapping into pipelines to steal gas. Lots of people who don't have quite enough technical savvy. They think they can fence it or break it apart for scrap metal.
2. Stolen for ransom. Or to blackmail the company into hiring the appropriate tribe or sex or religion. Rationale: previous occupations of facilities by tribesmen for such purposes.
3. Stolen to be sold by people who know what it is. High tech theft by knowledgable crooks.
4. Terrorists
Posted by Chuck  2003-03-01 09:03:40|| [blog.simmins.org]  2003-03-01 09:03:40|| Front Page Top

#2 Looks like we'll be getting new "Business Proposals" from Abacha and Co very soon. Like "Sir, I sollicit your help with transporting Americium out of the country. You will keep 30 percent of it..."
Posted by True German Ally 2003-03-01 09:50:46||   2003-03-01 09:50:46|| Front Page Top

#3 A little off-topic, but IIRC, ex-Zaire (now Democratic Rep. of Congo) used to have one quite functionnal, french-technology, nuclear plant, possibly the only one in Africa, and the region is not exactly very stable, either.
Posted by Anonymous 2003-03-01 11:25:56||   2003-03-01 11:25:56|| Front Page Top

#4 Exactly what I thought it was. The beryllium is used as a bonding material for the Americium.

There was a serious incident in Argentina when a man picked up a similar source that had fallen out of a truck due to poor materials controls and slipped it into his back pocket: Large chunks of his legs and buttocks died, and he lost his testacles. I attended a class that discussed the incident, and the photos made a few students sick...
Posted by Ptah  2003-03-01 15:44:27||   2003-03-01 15:44:27|| Front Page Top

#5 We'll just have to monitor the local clinincs and see what shows up.
Posted by Alaska Paul 2003-03-01 18:17:40||   2003-03-01 18:17:40|| Front Page Top

22:41 anon
11:03 True German Ally
11:01 Murat
10:58 Murat
08:28 True German Ally
08:07 Fred
07:21 raptor
07:11 raptor
06:59 mhw
06:21 RW
05:09 anon
04:30 Bomb-a-rama
04:12 Bomb-a-rama
04:06 Bomb-a-rama
04:03 Peter
01:20 Rex Mundi
01:04 Rex Mundi
00:58 Rex Mundi
00:22 Dishman
23:49 Anon
23:18 Anonymous
23:16 Anonymous
23:10 Anonymous
23:04 Matt Miller









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