Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnews!military
From: sigma!bill@beaver.cs.washington.edu (William Swan)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Shielding Nukes
Keywords: finding backpack nukes?
Message-ID: <8676@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 29 Jul 89 03:27:19 GMT
References: <8530@cbnews.ATT.COM> <8572@cbnews.ATT.COM>
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From: sigma!bill@beaver.cs.washington.edu (William Swan)

In article <8572@cbnews.ATT.COM> nak@cbnews.ATT.COM (Neil A. Kirby) writes:
>>This whole discussion got started because the original poster, John Ralls   
>>said "As for finding nukes, that's easy. Warheads aren't shielded because
>>of the weight, so you just point a radiation detector at it." 
>	If the warhead is twice or ten times more radient than the
>	background, it will show up noticably on person-portable
>	instruments.  One hundred times more radient than background would
>	be very easy to pick up.  
  
A question:  Given the potential prospect of terrorist nukes, which would be
far more likely to be smuggled in than delivered by missile, is it possible
with this detection equipment to:
	a) detect, and
	b) locate
said nuke, say, one of a size and mass (including shielding, if any) readily
surreptitiously transported, within a typical city? What amount of shielding
is sufficient to hide it, if any? Is this classified secret information? :-)
  
  
-- 
Bill Swan  entropy.ms.washington.edu!sigma!bill  Send postal address for info:
	Innocent but in prison in Washington State for 13.5 years:
	Ms. Debbie Runyan: incarcerated 01/1989, scheduled release 07/2002.
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