[geeks] NSI must die!!!!

[Eric Dittman]

> > The type of nuclear material needed depends on the type of
> > weapon one wanted to make.  A dirty bomb is easy, fission
> > bombs and above are increasingly more difficult.  Most
> > likely the best one could do would be a low-yield fission
> > bomb.
> 
> You'll need purified weapons-grade uranium. This isn't stuff you can make in
> your garage. It takes some pretty hefty equipment (IE, entire factories) to
> purify uranium. Plus, you have to be able to machine it, which is in and of
> itself an extraordinarily dangerous activity. Once you actually /have/ that
> though, the bomb itself is simple.

I'm not going to speak on what you need for a dirty bomb,
but anyone that's read the news lately knows that the
material isn't that hard to obtain.  For fission and
above you do need weapons-grade uranium.  That takes
considerable time to refine, with the associated costs.

Consider the Iraqis have been trying to get enough weapons-
grade uranium for a while (among other types of fissile
material; anyone remember the reactor the Israelis destroyed
a few years ago?).  They never had enough time to make enough
material before the plant was destroyed, and they didn't lack
for money to spend on weapons development.

Hell, consider how long it took to make the initial bombs
during WWII.  The US was working as fast as it could, and
at the time Hiroshima and Nagasaki were neutralized we only
had a few (less than 8, IIRC) available.
-- 
Eric Dittman
dittman at dittman.net
Check out the DEC Enthusiasts Club at http://www.dittman.net/