Quite a front-page story in the Bangor Daily News today:
Report: 'Dirty bomb' parts found in slain man's home
Agency says radioactive materials recovered
in home of man allegedly slain by his wife
By Walter Griffin- BDN Staff
BELFAST, Maine ? James G. Cummings, who police say was shot to death by his wife two months ago, allegedly had a cache of radioactive materials in his home suitable for building a "dirty bomb." ...Curiously, the report carefully avoids the term "terrorist" when describing the slain man. (His wife has not been charged yet.)
[An FBI field intelligence report from the Washington Regional Threat and Analysis Center] says that four 1-gallon containers of 35 percent hydrogen peroxide, uranium, thorium, lithium metal, thermite, aluminum powder, beryllium, boron, black iron oxide and magnesium ribbon were found in the home.
Also found was literature on how to build "dirty bombs" and information about cesium-137, strontium-90 and cobalt-60, radioactive materials. The FBI report also stated there was evidence linking James Cummings to white supremacist groups.
The report fails to distinguish the characteristics of what was found at the site, versus what was in literature there. While beryllium is a deadly chemical poison and uranium and thorium are poisonous and somewhat radioactive, none of those are big radiological dangers.
On the other hand, the stuff mentioned that evidently the guy didn't have--cesium-137, strontium-90 and cobalt-60--are extremely radioactive products of fission (i.e. nuclear waste). Tiny amounts of these substances can kill at moderate distance if concentrated enough. But, the guy was only reading about those. I suppose he could not get them from the same sources the other stuff came from. That's comforting, I guess.
Thanks to the Bangor Daily News for giving this story the weight it deserves with a front-page banner headline. As one can read about constantly at Orcinus, the far more important terror/assassination threat in this country comes from right-wing and neo-nazi pseudo fascists. The deceased man was said to be "very upset" when Barack Obama was elected president, according to the BDN report.
Posted by The Owl at 16:46. Filed under: Wingnuttia
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