UN alert as nuclear plans go missing

Blueprints disclosing key steps to build a bomb feared up for sale

Electronic drawings that give comprehensive details of how to build and test equipment essential for making nuclear bombs have vanished and could be put up for sale on the international black market, according to UN investigators.

The blueprints, running to hundreds of pages, show how to make centrifuges for enriching uranium. In addition, the investigators have been unable to trace key components for uranium centrifuge rigs and fear that drawings for a nuclear warhead have been secreted away and could be for sale.

source:
Guardian Unlimited

OK - easier said then done.

You got the plans - but do you have all the needed components?

Apparently possessing the plans to build a Nuclear Device is the easiest step.

Not a really Highly Guarded item, isnt it?

The Real question is, if the plans were stolen as the First step into making a Nuclear device - or is it the LAST step; they already have all the needed components, but just needed a plan, how to put them togather...

"We are still missing something from the picture in terms of critical equipment, certain parts of centrifuges ... There is equipment missing important enough for us to search, an amount that makes us worried."

Well, is this just the stupidest thing you've ever seen or what? And people accuse the U.S. government of trying to incite fear. Looks like we ought to leave those efforts all in the hands of the wishy-washy IAEA.

The Sky is Falling! We can't find two copies of ELECTRONIC drawings.

uhhh...yeah. What about the other 1.4 million copies after you find these "two".

This is just stupid stupid stupid.

Good find SoulJah

Your right the problems with making a Nuke seems to be not so much the 'Knowledge' anymore of bomb design, but one issue would be looked at first either:

1.Buy the main material needed e.g. Uranium
2.Make it yourself.

Firstly anyone looking to build a Nuclear Bomb needs lots of money and a supporting country to achieve it. This is because the only real difficulty in producing the materials and assembling a bomb are actually getting enough fissile material, be it Plutonium or Uranium.
This is where the money and country comes in. To produce the material you need to build Nuclear reactors, a highly highly costly exercise and seperate the materials out from the reactors into their usuable form.

Now this may take more time and money than just trying to buy it or capture it from another source. However this also has its risks and is a one off, more akin to the Al Quaeda organisation. For a country though obviously the option to produce it yourself takes away the above risk and also allows you to keep prodcuing the material in the future therefore building more bombs.

This seems to just support the Iran issue with Nuclear Weapons at the moment.

The documents taken would be helpfull for such a country and also korea but not for a terrorist group with no infrastructure.

If you have the following

1. A very good engineer to oversee
2. Some good quality small work operators say experianced Optitians (lens makers) to machine the explosives and a watchmaker.
3.A good metal machinist/miller
4.A fine electrician
5.Physisist
6.Internet Connection or some damn good books
7.enough Uranium/Plutonium

It is not difficult to then manufacture and make a Nuclear Weapon, as scary as that is. And im refering to a Hydrogen Bomb not a Atomic Bomb, things such as tritium to make it hydrogen can be found on the international market easily, pallidium is used in watches.

The issue has been the actual material. These documents seem to usefull for a country that already has the raw material and is wanting to process it into weapons grade material the rest as above is easy.

(it obviously wasnt easy originaly but the info and knowledge is now available and taught in most Universities physics dept)

Just my thoughts on it.

MischeviouslyWakingUpThePopulationToReality

Um, encylopedia Britannica had a digram of a nuke with detailed schematics. That was a few years ago. Nuke weapon plans are all over the net. They are easy to find. If you have a search engine you trust, just search for Nuke warhead diagrams. I suggest Metacrawler.com

Im not sure what all the fuss is really about here

Val, you might be right. Anyone seen chicken little anywhere?

Agreed, this looks to be more of a "The Sky is falling" than anything else.

I do have to disagree with the spin that gathering the materials and actually creating a bomb are the hardest part. There have been numerous reports of missing nuclear material both in the US as well as in the old Russia that so far today, have not been accounted for. It does take money but not neccessarily so much that only goverments would have to finacially back it. There are plenty of independently wealthy people out there that have more than enough money to purchase the materials and get someone to buid it.

Why would people that Steal the Plans - You think they just want to Scare the Public by doing that?

Hiroshima type bomb designs are pretty available, but according to this article it seems these plans are much more detailed then that and include designs to build uranium enrichment equipment.