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The “Double Nuclear threat” posed by ISIS

Jan 15, 2015

This post is also available in: עברית (Hebrew)

Dirty Bomb or Nuclear suitcase? These are according to experts the options ISIS seeks now for performing huge attacks in the west.

Last year, an ISIS militant has claimed that the group is now in possession of a nuclear weapon. A British ISIS member now based in Syria, claimed on social media that the group obtained the uranium from Mosul University and now possesses a “dirty bomb” that it is now considering detonating in a public area.

Such a device is aimed at spreading radioactive material in a big area.

But in recent days another threat has been studied by intelligence bodies. This threat is in the form of “suitcase nuke”

This is the experts say is a very compact and portable nuclear weapon and could have the dimensions of 60 x 40 x 20 centimeters or 24 x 16 x 8 inches. The smallest possible bomb-like object would be a single critical mass of plutonium (or U-233) at maximum density under normal conditions.

The warhead of a suitcase nuke or suitcase bomb consists of a tube with two pieces of uranium, which, when rammed together, would cause a blast. Some sort of firing unit and a device that would need to be decoded to cause detonation may be included in the “suitcase.”

Another portable weapon is a “backpack” bomb. The Soviet nuclear backpack system was made in the 1960s for use against NATO targets in time of war and consists of three “coffee can-sized” aluminum canisters in a bag. All three must be connected to make a single unit in order to explode. The detonator is about 6 inches long. It has a 3-to-5 kiloton yield, depending on the efficiency of the explosion. It’s kept powered during storage by a battery line connected to the canisters.

After the Soviet Union was disassembled, there were reports that some “Suitcase Nukes” were stolen and are offered on the international black market. ISIS, according to the experts, is an organization that will not hesitate to use such a device.