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IAEA warns bin Laden could have radioactive bombs
Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have warned that Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda could have radioactive bombs, which were in many respects worse than nuclear devices and much easier to make and these could have originated from Pakistan, a leading western journal has reported.
It also said that if there is any serious threat that bin Laden may get a usable nuke, its origin would likely be Pakistan, not Russia. Pakistan`s nuclear weapons are armed with only weapons-grade uranium and are, apparently, not much more sophisticated than the bomb the US dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.
In a report with inputs from various places including Islamabad, Quetta, Vienna, Moscow and Washington, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said such weapons tend to be bulky and their explosive yield relatively low, but they are easy to assemble. Bin Laden supporters in the Pakistani nuclear programme (and such people, apparently, do exist) can, possibly, pass on the material and the knowledge to make a crude nuclear explosive, Moscow-based defence analyst Pavel Felgenhauer said in the WSJ article.
Detonating a bomb won`t take any technical assistance if bin Laden can get his hands on a few fully built – widely feared - suitcase nukes, he said.
Bureau Report
In a report with inputs from various places including Islamabad, Quetta, Vienna, Moscow and Washington, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said such weapons tend to be bulky and their explosive yield relatively low, but they are easy to assemble. Bin Laden supporters in the Pakistani nuclear programme (and such people, apparently, do exist) can, possibly, pass on the material and the knowledge to make a crude nuclear explosive, Moscow-based defence analyst Pavel Felgenhauer said in the WSJ article.
Detonating a bomb won`t take any technical assistance if bin Laden can get his hands on a few fully built – widely feared - suitcase nukes, he said.
Bureau Report