Closure
Sarah points me to this New Republic article (BugMeNot works) about that GAO investigation, which purports to answer the question about how much material was smugged in.
The answer is 150 microcuries of Cs-137. Cs-137 has a specific activity of 88 curies per gram, which means this was about one-hundredth of a gram that GAO smuggled in.
As I expected, that nebulous claim "enough for two dirty bombs" was bullshit. This is roughly the same amount of activity as in 150 smoke detectors. Walked by a crate full of those at Home Depot lately?
By comparison, the TMI accident released 2.5 million Ci of radioactive gases and 15 curies of radioiodines. Average dose to 2 million people? 1.4 millirem. Average global background count? .24 rem.
Thanks, sl. You do need to break down and get an LJ.
The answer is 150 microcuries of Cs-137. Cs-137 has a specific activity of 88 curies per gram, which means this was about one-hundredth of a gram that GAO smuggled in.
As I expected, that nebulous claim "enough for two dirty bombs" was bullshit. This is roughly the same amount of activity as in 150 smoke detectors. Walked by a crate full of those at Home Depot lately?
By comparison, the TMI accident released 2.5 million Ci of radioactive gases and 15 curies of radioiodines. Average dose to 2 million people? 1.4 millirem. Average global background count? .24 rem.
Thanks, sl. You do need to break down and get an LJ.