From: utzoo!decvax!yale-com!leichter
Newsgroups: net.misc
Title: Re: "Re: Cosmos A-Bomb"
Article-I.D.: yale-com.710
Posted: Sat Jan 22 10:45:20 1983
Received: Mon Jan 24 03:57:13 1983
References: duke.2934

As several people have pointed out, the use of the word "radioactive" would
probably be enough to cause a panic if a terrorist group claimed to have added
such material to a water supply, for example.

This is true, and it's exactly because of such unreasoning reactions that it's
important to look at the reality.  People have become so irrational on this
subject that they are ready for panics - or witchhunts.  Consider that radio-
active materials OTHER than those useful for making bombs are actually quite
easily available.  For example, Cobalt-60 is widely used as a gamma-ray source
in industry & medicine.  Any terrorist group that wished could easily steall
\\\steal it in large quantities.  As a powerful gamma-ray emitter, it would
actually be much more dangerous than some uranium or even plutonium.

Given this inevitable vulnerability, it's essential that we try to explain
to people who haven't looked at it what the actual dangers actually are and
are not, and where our safety comes from, such as it is.

							-- Jerry
						decvax!yale-comix!leichter