Dirty bombs

The nightmare scenario of a rogue state passing nuclear technology and/or materials to a terrorist network is sometimes described as unlikely or unrealistic. There is probably something in the contetntion that most states would be slow to hand shadowy individuals the means with which to destroy one of its own cities. But there are plenty of scenarios in which it is perfectly plausible to imagine that, one way or another, terrorists could get their hands on at least the components of an elementary working dirty nuclear bomb. In that case, there has been a worrying development in the U.S.:

Two teams of government investigators using fake documents were able to enter the United States with enough radioactive sources to make two dirty bombs, according to a federal [Government Accountability Office] report made available Monday.

The investigators purchased a "small quantity" of radioactive materials from a commercial source, ... posed as employees of a fictitious company and brought the materials into the United States through checkpoints on the northern and southern borders, the report stated.

Yesterday the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations began an investigation into what has been done by the federal government to protect that country from the threat of nuclear terrorism. The GAO report certainly clarifies the dangers.