Nuclear Items Found At Fairgrounds

Hi All,

I have found this article to be of some interest. Though there is an indication made that " All is Safe ", it makes me further wonder IF it was put there as part of the Terrorist Scare Tactics we have all come to know. Furthermore, I find it very strange that just anyone might have had access to these items. These are radioactive items that would require some security clearance to have access to. In addition, anyone with any " REAL " intent would have Not left any radioactive symbols on the items. Unless maybe they were acquired by someone who thought that they may have been made sick by radiation and just dumped them there. But then, why would they dump those items there. It all just seems very curious to me. I just thought everyone should know.

www.cnn.com...

I read this story on CNN earlier today, and thought then that something didn't sound right.

With Tin-foil hat firmly in place and a handful of paranoia pills at the ready, here goes.

The article mentions "a metal object", at first thought to be a pipe bomb, but later determined to be "a container used to transport cessium, a radioactive element". One presumes the author(s) to mean cessium 137, a Highly radioactive, and very dangerous material indeed.

The article then goes on to state that "some cessium (again, cessium 137?)" was found at the scene.

But then the article procedes to expound upon the Other material found at the site, Cobalt-57. The story goes to far greater lengths to explain how the Cobalt-57 was far past its useful life and posed no danger to the public.

Begging Question:

Where Is the Rest of The Cessium?

If you've found "a container used to transport cessium", but have only found "some" cessium, it stands to reason that you have likely not found All of the cessium! So where did it go? And with who did it go? And, most importantly, What are their intentions?

As I recall, cessium-137 is a fine powdery sustance, which can be easily dispersed by prevailing winds. As previously stated, it is highly radioactive, and was for a time, if memory serves, used as a thermogenic power source in some old Soviet "nuclear battery" devices.

It has been conjectured that terrorists could easily deploy an extremely effective "dirty bomb", if they could get their hands on even a relatively small amount of this material; it's powdery consistancy making it ideal for wide-spread dispersal by an explosive device. Or even as an air-born aerosol (spray can).

Now, it would appear that some one has at least some of this scarey-stuff in their "hot" little hands.

So, is it safe to assume that there is still a serious potential for Danger? I would say Definitely. So, Why no real alarm. The article reads as if it is no big deal and that they are searching to get to the bottom of it. I have an itchy suspicion that maybe there is Much more than is being told. As usual.


[edit on 19-11-2006 by Dr Sminty]

NEVER post before you read!

OK, First off it's spelled "Cesium", Not "Ce-ss-ium" as I first posted, repeatedly.

Second, cesium is Not "powdery" as I had previously stated, but a soft metal which melts at just below body temperature. Which makes it ideal for dispersal by explosive, since the heat of the explosion would easily turn the material into a widely dispersed vapor.

Mea Culpa.

I wonder if this is what they found in New Mexico:


www.rpdinc.com...


Curious that the discovery was in NM. Many of the US's major nuclear research firms are located in NM, including Los Alamos, which recenltly suffered a major breach of security when some of its Top Secret documents where recovered from the trailer-home of a relatively low-level employee and her drug-dealer room-mate.

I also wonder why nobody noticed that an item with so much potential for misuse as this radioactive "cesium transport container" had gone missing. How many more are missing? Where were the safeguards? What happened to those N.E.S.T. teams on 24/7 alert for errant emissions of radioactivity that are supposedly protecting us from terrorist plots?

Scarey stuff indeed!