
Video Found in Belgium of Nuclear Official May Point to Bigger Plot - jstreebin
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/19/world/europe/belgium-nuclear-official-video-paris-attacks.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
======
pdkl95
> authorities had “concrete indications that showed that the terrorists
> involved in the Paris attacks had the intention to do something involving
> one of our four nuclear sites.”

Just like the various authorities that jumped at the chance to claim the
attackers relied on encryption? This entire article is using the usual fear-
mongering over anything "nuclear" as another propaganda tool. Jacob
Appelbaum's interpretation[1] of this kind of claim is much more believable:
incidents like the Paris attacks were a failure in _intelligence_ and a
failure in traditional law-enforcement work. When the public conversation is
framed with complex topics like encryption or nuclear power/medicine, the
failures in more mundane topics are easily swept under the rug.

As for the article itself:

    
    
        "officials have asserted privately"
                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    
        "may have been involved in planning several attacks"
         ^^^
    
        "But experts and officials speculated that it could have been part
                                   ^^^^^^^^^^         ^^^^^
         of a plot to abduct the nuclear official, who was not identified."
                                                           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    
        "...if acquired, the material ... could also be used to make a dirty bomb..."
            ^^                            ^^^^^
    
        “'If they find a way to spread such material among the population,
          ^^
          they could do a lot of damage'”
               ^^^^^
    

I'm going to assume that this extreme concentration density of weasel words is
a sign that someone is making this up either as filler or to push an agenda.

> he acknowledged that no additional guards had been hired or other measures
> taken to secure the perimeters of Belgium’s nuclear sites.

> ‘There is no specific threat to the nuclear facilities.’

That sounds a lot like confirmation that there is no actual story here beyond
fear-mongering.

> radioactive material is expensive to clean up

So are many chemicals, which are much easier and cheaper to obtain. We've
contaminated so many sites with dioxins, pesticides, heavy metals, and other
dangerous industrial pollutants, we had to invent the "Superfund".

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIP2RN0NlI8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIP2RN0NlI8)

------
rrggrr
Perfectly illustrates why more nuclear states are not needed until the
challenges of command and control, and waste are addressed. For example Iran's
"right" to a peaceful nuclear program ought not to be absolute when a single
failure to keep its materials and people secure can mean disaster for many
other nations.

~~~
toomuchtodo
> Perfectly illustrates why more nuclear states are not needed until the
> challenges of command and control, and waste are addressed. For example
> Iran's "right" to a peaceful nuclear program ought not to be absolute when a
> single failure to keep its materials and people secure can mean disaster for
> many other nations.

"U.S. Air Force relieves nine officers following nuclear test cheating probe"

[https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-
ai...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-air-force-
fires-nine-officers-following-nuclear-test-cheating-
probe/2014/03/27/9e5eaffa-b5e0-11e3-b899-20667de76985_story.html)

"In Error, B-52 Flew Over U.S. With Nuclear-Armed Missiles"

[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2007/09...](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2007/09/05/AR2007090500762.html)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_United_States_Air_Force_n...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_United_States_Air_Force_nuclear_weapons_incident)

"Bill Clinton 'lost vital White House nuclear codes"

[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8077326/Bill-
Clinton-lost-vital-White-House-nuclear-codes.html)

"Wikipedia: US Military Nuclear Weapons Incidents"

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accid...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents)

So when do we (I'm a US citizen) hand in our nuclear card? No nation state has
any business having weaponized nuclear materials (or infrastructure to
weaponize non-weapons grade material) in their possession.

~~~
roywiggins
> No nation state has any business having nuclear materials in their
> possession.

Not even for medical imaging, radiotherapy, and so on?

~~~
toomuchtodo
Clarified my post you quoted.

