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"Eliezer S. Yudkowsky" wrote:
>
> Mike Lorrey wrote:
> >
> > And all imported packages do go through sniffing protocols when they
> > come into the country. Don't be silly.
> >
> > Now, a true pony nuke is about 80 lb, and has a yeild of abour 8kt. It
> > also is sniffed when it comes into the country, and a radiation source
> > would glow like a neon sign in an xray machine.
>
> Mike, I have to say I'm skeptical about this. Is there a really good
> reason why it's harder to smuggle 150 kilos of uranium than 150 kilos of
> cocaine?
How much cocaine is smuggled by UPS, Eli? Can you tell me?
For starters, an xray machine is going to see the materials of a nuclear
device, as well as a vaporous cloud on the screen from the radiation
from the isotopes. Nor can a device be made which does not give off a
significant amount of measurable radiation to the atmosphere. UPS deals
with radioactive materials, they are clearly marked as such on the
outside. Any package not so marked raises a red flag. Marked shipments
are also serialized and tracked.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Oct 12 2001 - 14:39:49 MDT