ABC NEWS again smuggles uranium into the USA again!!!!

[Dreadsox]

Are we really any safer than we were two years ago????

I read somewhere that 2 of 100 connex boxes were searched at our ports on September 11, 2001. Two years later 2 of 100 connex boxes are searched at the ports.

[Q]Border Breach?
Customs Fails to Detect Depleted Uranium ? Again

Sept. 10? For a second year, U.S. government screeners have failed to detect a shipment of depleted uranium in a container sent by ABCNEWS from overseas as part of a test of security at American ports. [/Q]

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/Primetime/sept11_uranium030910.html

 

[Scarletwine]

I believe it. We are only spending 23 B on homeland security, versus the 87B for Iraq. There is no way to check all those boxes wwithout huge delays and expense. I guess they are just hoping it won't happen.

 

[TylerDurden]

Few quick questions:

I know they are talking about uranium being smuggled in, but what if it was a small, complete, functioning weapon. Say one of these dirty bombs or a small nuke from Nth Korea or something.

So, a small nuke, how is it triggered? I mean are these things that would have to be transported in by ship, pass customs, get picked up then 'set up' somewhere before being blown up? Or are there ways ("Like in the movies!") that these things can be set off remotely whenever 'they' feel like it? Either from a distance or a suicidal guy on the actual ship.

Point is, if they can be, it doesn't even need to get to customs to be a problem. I don't know US ports, but in Sydney Harbour the cargo ships come right up the harbour, past highly populated areas, passed the Opera House/Harbour Bridge/CBD etc passed a few more populated areas then into the cargo port, which is right next to a highly populated tourist area. I'm guessing a nuke going off at any stage of that journey will have the desired effect.

I don't know if these are stupid questions (I don't know anything about nukes), or a technicaly possible scenario (too much Affleck), but if it is, what can you do?

 

[verte76]

Damn, that's scary.

 

[nbcrusader]

So, a small nuke, how is it triggered? I mean are these things that would have to be transported in by ship, pass customs, get picked up then 'set up' somewhere before being blown up? Or are there ways ("Like in the movies!") that these things can be set off remotely whenever 'they' feel like it? Either from a distance or a suicidal guy on the actual ship.

Terrorists have been able to remote detonate explosives using cell phones.

 

[TylerDurden]

Terrorists have been able to remote detonate explosives using cell phones.

Yeah, I know that, I was just assuming that a nuke took a bit more of an effort to detonate then a 'home made' bomb.

Imagine if it happened? What the hell would happen to sea cargo? They'd have to build off-shore docks for security checks or something. Makes you wonder what kind of world we'll be living in in 10yrs or so.

 

[nbcrusader]

Yeah, I know that, I was just assuming that a nuke took a bit more of an effort to detonate then a 'home made' bomb.

Imagine if it happened? What the hell would happen to sea cargo? They'd have to build off-shore docks for security checks or something. Makes you wonder what kind of world we'll be living in in 10yrs or so.

Exploding a "dirty" nuke (using depleted uranium) is easy as any home made bomb.

Creating a nuclear reaction required a different type of uranium and far more sophisticated equipment. The remote detination would be the least of the problems in building a true nuke.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

the homeland security people claim that if it was live uranium, not depleated uranium, that the sensors would have caught it and it wouldn not have been allowed inside the country. abc has scientists and, how surprisingly, democratic senators who say that they SHOULD have picked up even the shielded, depleated uranium.

what we need here is to get to the bottom of this. if in fact what homeland is saying, that it passed the inspetions because it was depletead uranium, which is in fact 100% harmless, then ABC news should be taken to task for creating a false hysteria and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for whatever laws they broke smuggling the stuff in. if in fact what ABC is saying is correct, that depleated uranium would give off the same signs as active uranium, then homeland security needs to be taken outside and beaten like a government mule. but frankly we can't really tell who's telling the truth here. but it deffinetly needs to be investigated.