Monday, June 22, 2009

The Latest from National Terror Alert Response Center








The Latest from National Terror
Alert Response Center

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New Detector Not Much Better Catching Nuke Material


Posted: 22 Jun 2009 12:01 AM PDT


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Federal investigators say the government’s next generation
radiation detectors are only marginally better at detecting hidden nuclear
material than monitors already at U.S. ports, but would cost more than
twice as much.


The machines are intended to prevent terrorists or criminals
from smuggling into the U.S. a nuclear bomb or its explosive components
hidden in a cargo container.


The monitors now in use can detect the presence of radiation,
but they cannot distinguish between threatening and nonthreatening
material. Radioactive material can be found naturally in ceramics and
kitty litter, but would be of no use in making a bomb, for instance.


The Department of Homeland Security has said the new machines
it is developing can distinguish between kitty litter and dangerous
radioactive material and produce fewer false alarms than the current
ones.


The new one are also better at detecting lightly shielded
material. But the machines perform at about the same level when detecting
radiological and nuclear materials hidden in a lead box or casing, the
most likely way a terrorist would try to sneak the materials into this
country, the Government Accountability Office said in a report to be
released Monday.


Source – Read Full Article


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Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for
homeland security news and information.






Al Qaeda Says They Would Use Pakistani Nuclear Weapons


Posted: 21 Jun 2009 11:54 PM PDT


al-shabaab-150x106


If it were in a position to do so, Al Qaeda would use
Pakistan’s nuclear weapons in its fight against the United States, a top
leader of the group said in remarks aired on Sunday.


Pakistan has been battling al Qaeda’s Taliban allies in the
Swat Valley since April after their thrust into a district 100 km 60 miles
northwest of the capital raised fears the nuclear-armed country could
slowly slip into militant hands.


“God willing, the nuclear weapons will not fall into the hands
of the Americans and the mujahideen would take them and use them against
the Americans,” Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, the leader of al Qaeda’s in
Afghanistan, said in an interview with Al Jazeera television.


Abu al-Yazid was responding to a question about U.S. safeguards
to seize control over Pakistan’s nuclear weapons in case Islamist fighters
came close to doing so.


“We expect that the Pakistani army would be defeated in Swat …
and that would be its end everywhere, God willing.”


This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National
Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for
homeland security news and information.














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