[ExI] EP and Peak oil.

[Samantha Atkins]

spike wrote:
> That being said, I am now calculating the impact of bad guys with plutonium.
> I am still convinced that detonating a nuke is technically difficult, but a
> dirty bomb is simple.

Please see the following links.  Apparently dirty bombs while 
undoubtedly nasty and to be avoided are a bit overhyped..   The military 
explored them and decided they were pretty uninteresting.   They can 
make a real mess  though they aren't immediate or even delayed death to 
many thousands of people as they are sometimes presented. 

http://www.k-state.edu/media/WEB/News/NewsReleases/Donnertletter.html
http://www.freedomforfission.org.uk/saf/terrorism.html
http://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/regv27n3/v27n3-5.pdf
http://www.labor-spiez.ch/en/dok/hi/pdf/dirty_bomb_E_def.pdf
http://www.pubsector.net/ELetters/EGovernment/v3n13/December2005Articles.lsp#threat
>   So how much plutonium would it take to mess up a city
> indefinitely?  The answers I keep getting are that the bad guys could
> increase the background radiation sufficiently such that some people would
> still choose to live there, and still be OK, many could live to old age
> there.
Yep.

>   But more health minded people would get scarce, which would include
> pretty much anyone with money and actual ability. 
It depends greatly on exactly what was used.  Very few dirty bomb 
scenarious actually justify as much fear and hysteria as would doubtless 
occur.

- samantha