Re: Adventure idea (help wanted)

["Jeff Fournier" <nyriv@xxxxxxxxx>]

Anders wrote:

"Unsubstanciated as it may be, I read somewhere that 400 grams of plutonium
(roughly the size of an orange) was more than enough to kill off the entire
population of the Earth due to the _incredibly_ high toxic properties of the
material."

-------

    I can't speak for the truth of the toxicity claim myself, but the size
seemed odd.  Naturally occuring plutonium has a density of 19.84 g/cm3.  At
this density, 400g would fit in a 2.72 cm cube, much closer to a golf ball
than an orange.

    Incidently, the claim that plutonium is the most toxic chemical known to
man was advanced by Ralph Nader, and in an 1998 interview with
Frontline(http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/reaction/interviews/
nader.html), he argued that it was taken out of context -- but still argued
it was "very deadly".  Needless to say, you can find pseudo-research for
both sides on the web. Indeed, one researcher has claimed to have calculated
the death toll from an intentional urban release of airborne plutonium
powder (generally agreed to be the most toxic form) to have an expected
mortality rate of only 25 deaths per pound of plutonium
(http://www.powerup.com.au/~dominion/ff/p22.htm).

    Needless to say, this is still quite an intriguing plot -- the panic
caused by a public release of any amount of radioactive material near an
urban center would be more valuable to a terrorist than the actual results.
Any effort by a government to downplay the threat would be treated
skeptically at best.  Imagine a scene in which a lab misplaces a supply of
plutonium, and the information is leaked.  Almost any fool with some
connections to a university lab could smuggle out research-grade (low
radioactivity) material, release it, and inform a media network, who would
be able to confirm the radioactivity and jump to conclusions...  Instant
panic before any real agency can get involved.

Jeff Fournier