Re: Nuclear Weapons Material

["Perry E. Metzger" <perry@imsi.com>]

Mike Duvos says:
> The media was making a big deal last night about the seizure of 
> twenty pounds of U-238.  This, of course, is the non-radioactive
> isotope of uranium in which trade is relatively unrestricted.

Its plenty radioactive. It just isn't fissionable. Not all isotopes
are fissionable.

> It does make excellent shell casings

Actually, depleted uranium tends to be used in place of lead in rounds
used for things like Phalanx (sp?) anti-missile gattling guns. Its
also used in some sorts of armor. I don't think anyone in their right
mind would make a shell CASING from it.

> I wonder why the issue of bomb parts is now being given such a
> huge push in the press?

Because its a real issue. Lots of nuclear material is floating around,
and some of it is going to end up in the hands of terrorists at some
point. However, as I said in the second message in this thread, this
will not be a reasonable excuse to stop strong cryptography, as anyone
with the resouces to build a bomb can also buy or build a good
cryptosystem.

Perry