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Dirty Bomb Posed No Radiation Danger: Scientists
An alleged plan by suspected terrorist Jose Padilla to detonate a uranium-laced “dirty bomb” in the United States could not have caused the radioactive harm claimed by U.S. authorities, scientists said recently (see GSN, June 2). Justice Department officials on June 1 said that the U.S.-born terrorism suspect hoped to spread radiation by detonating “uranium wrapped with explosives,” the Associated Press reported. However, uranium has low radioactivity, experts said. Materials such as cesium and cobalt isotopes are believed to be stronger candidates for dirty bombs. “There is just no significant radiation hazard,” said Peter Zimmerman, a U.S. physicist at King’s College in London. “I used a 20-pound brick of uranium as a doorstop in my office,” he said, to illustrate uranium’s potential for danger. “It’s the equivalent of blowing up lead,” said Ivan Oelrich, a Federation of American Scientists physicist. A Justice Department spokesman would not say whether the agency consulted with scientists before making the announcement, AP reported. Padilla, a suspected al-Qaeda operative, has been held without charges for two years as an enemy combatant (Associated Press/Kansas City Star, June 10).
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