'Dirty Bomb' Seen As the Likeliest WMD

BACKGROUND -- DIRTY BOMB
A dirty bomb is an improvised nuclear device, created from radioactive nuclear waste material and conventional explosives. When a dirty bomb is detonated the explosion carries the nuclear waste material into the atmosphere where it is subject to dispersal by wind and rain. The aim of the dirty bomb is to cause wide-spread contamination of the target area. If detonated in a city a well designed dirty bomb could cause panic, radiation-related illnesses (both long-term and short-term) and possibly the the abandonment or demolition of highly contaminated areas.

'Dirty Bomb' Seen As the Likeliest WMD
ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands -- Truckloads of vegetables, dishware, even cranberry juice are setting off the radiation alarms at Europe's biggest port, as thousands of shipping containers bound for America pass through Rotterdam's new "dirty bomb" detectors.

They talk about our 'false' or 'innocent' alarms," Dutch Customs' Bert Wiersema said of his equipment, sensitive to even traces of radioactivity. "It doesn't matter. We want to detect everything."

And so far, over 18 months, they've detected everything but bombs.

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