What if a dirty bomb hit London?

[Gumbo]

Originally posted by xane


You mean the ones defined by the International Convention on Refugees ratified by Britain in the 1950's ?

And thus totally outdated, and in need of urgent revision?

I do think all this troops at Heathrow, Americans being told to buy polyethleyne sheeting and duct tape against chemical attacks etc. Is very likely just an attempt by the governments involved, to make us all a bit scared, and a little less anti-war.

Personally, my view is, if we're going to do it we might aswell get on with it. It may well be about oil, but it will also help the average Iraqi on the street to a better and safer standard of living, after the initial pain of the war, of course.

As for a real threat at Heathrow, I hope I'm not proved wrong, but pleease, surely if terrorists were planning to have a pop at an airliner, they'd just take the hour long drive to Stanstead, or pop over to Gatwick, Luton, or even Norwich Airport where having driven past this morning there is absolutely no security on the takeoff axis of the runway.

 

[adams901]

Throdgrain, I don't blame this government solely for the state of the asylum/immigration process but they haven't done anything to solve it, one of the ways to solve it would be to not make it as appealing as it is to them, don't give them handouts and council houses, and defiantly don't put them in 5* hotels while their applications are being processed, but this is for another thread )

It isn't really the thought of a bomb in London that bothers me, the IRA were/are simple, they just liked to blow buildings up, it is the thought of what the bomb can contain that worries me (chemical, biological or radioactive material).

I guess my comments on Blair could be said about any goverment in the world, the decision makers have places to go when the shit hits the fan, us peons dont.

By tomorrow I will probally have forgotten about it all, but it is something that im thinking about today.

 

[throdgrain]

Fair enough Adams
I get rather defensive about all this slagging of Tony Blair, mostly cos his predecessors have been such utter cunts , and I get the impression sometimes (probably wrongly) that people forget just what a self-serving collection of bastards the tories really were .
As far as assylum seekers go, well, I live about a quarter of a mile from one of these hotels where currently about 20 of them reside.
The other day my wife was taking my younger son to the dentist, and in there was one of the afformentioned hotel dwellers , he'd been sent there by some authority or other no doubt. He was getting a slagging from all quarters, even the (asian) woman bihind the desk would have nothing to do with him , and was making her feelings quite plain.
This guy was scared. Didnt know where to turn, according to my wife.
I couldnt help but think that was rather sad if Im honest.
Still dont want em in the country though. Dunno what that says

 

[PR.]

There was an Horizon program about dirty bombs it was unbelivable. They had a case study of how terrorists could get hold of the material. In the 80s in Russia 2 men were who had been camping in a forest had gone to hospital with massive radiation burns, the men said they had been sleeping next to some warm containers, a bunch of men went up there and found dumped nuclear waste the containers had been broken open and had leaked radiation out, the men trying to recover it had 40seconds to go and pick the containers and move them over to a lead lined container after 40seconds they would be exposed to lethal levels of radiation. Also in the 80s the Soviets decided they may be able to improve crop growth by subjecting it to high levels of radiation (!) when it failed they just left hundreds of these hoppers containing radiation all over the place unchecked and readily available.

The main concern of the dirty bomb was that it could be detonated but it would be dealt with just like a normal bomb

 

[xane]

Originally posted by adams901
It isn't really the thought of a bomb in London that bothers me, the IRA were/are simple, they just liked to blow buildings up

I was within 1/2 mile of the Canary Wharf bomb (1995), when you're that close and then you watch the years of repair needed afterwards, you don't describe the IRA's work as "simple", even though "only" two people got killed.

I shudder to think what those who went through Bloody Friday (1972), Enniskillen (1989) and Warrington (1993) where far more devastation occurred to the communities involved.

Get a grip mate.

 

[adams901]

lol you people like taking things out of context, I meant simple as in a bomb that blows up with no after effects other than the damage it has done to people and property, compared to a complex bomb containing material that could be carried by the wind and effect people a distance away possibly for many generations it is simple, I didn't say it wasn't dangerous or any less traumatising.

 

[bodhi]

Originally posted by leggy


They would get leukemia and their kids would be born with 2 penises and 4 arms though.

Can you imagine having a wank if you had 2 penises and 4 arms?




Could also be handy for group sex.

 

[smurkin]

Ratiation comes in various forms, the alpha and beta types are unlikely to penetrate skin, only the gamma radiation is of concern,

Dude, thats not a good analysis. Alpha is the most dangerous. The point is not the incidental ionising radiation, the point is the dangerous genetic damage caused by the massive (alpha) emissions. If you inhale/ingest an alpha emitter particle (a particulate of emmitting material), the damage becomes internal and the limited flight of the alpha particle is irrelevant. In fact alpha emittors are largely banned from most research institutions (apart from nuclear sites) the others aren't). The gamma particle is fast but small and does relatively little damage compared to the He nucleus which is many thousands of times more massive and with its momentum and energy, causes more genetic damage.

That is the point of the dirty bomb, not the incidental (relatively feeble) ionising radiation...but ingestion of the emitting particles (and the problems of cleaning the dust).

My approach would be to limit inhalation. For that you would need a respirator/dust mask. And limit skin contact.

Get inside your car get off the street...wait for the shit to settle. But dont breathe the dust (dfficult) avoid the aircon.

Still, lets hope not.

 

[smurkin]

aw turd...I'm a brainiac :?

 

[Furr]

random*

 

[S3-FluKe]

Originally posted by smurkin
aw turd...I'm a brainiac :?

Yeah but your right, gamma is pretty close to X-Rays and is nothing compared to beta radiation (can penetrate clothes, etc & is still pretty dangerous) and alpha which is the most ionising but thankfully less penetrating (although like u said, when inhaled or ingested could be pretty nasty)

 

[Gumbo]

Which one made The Incredible Hulk?

 

[Furr]

We need robots from the matrix to give us someone not human to blow up. Even if thay may turn us into duracells