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Greek news report him as murdered, so...
Also his access card has been invalidated so Belgium is probably safe from radioactive death for the time being.

Pretty scary it might have been an option they were willing to try(assuming it's by the same people).

Still scary. A dirty bomb attack is up there with the scariest and most dangerous the west faces. A nuke is clean, these render large areas no gonzones and clearing up the mess....

No way you take this as anything less than deadly serious and act quickly and directly to nip it before it blooms its deadly flower.

 Shadow Captain Edithae wrote:

 thenoobbomb wrote:
A security member of the Tihange nuclear power plant was found shot the other day, his access card was stolen and has now been blocked.

Shot dead, or just wounded?

Killed, he was taking out his dog on Thursday night when it happened.

The dirty bomb is the scariest potential terrorist attack I can imagine, barring a bioweapon.

I hope the relevant people took note and security on the nuclear waste reprocessing plants around europe is as tight feth right now.

 Da Boss wrote:
The dirty bomb is the scariest potential terrorist attack I can imagine, barring a bioweapon.

That appears to be the whole point - the Wikipedia article on Dirty Bomb implies that dirty bombs aren't anywhere near as dangerous as the public perceives them to be. The real danger of a dirty bomb is the psychological fear and economic damage resulting from self imposed no-go zones as an ignorant public flees the affected area, rather than any actual physical harm caused by radiation. Its a literal weapon of terror, not destruction.

I was certainly surprised by that.

Dirty bombs really shouldn't frighten anybody that much. The deadliest part is the actual bomb, the rest is primarily a financial weapon, one that would cost a lot to clean up but really wouldn't harm people. And there are sooooo many layers of security at a nuclear power plant that a terrorist isn't going to try anything there. Or if they do, get anything done besides get shot there. Nor can the reactor even be tripped with direct access to the control panel. Its just not possible.

DutchWinsAll wrote:
Dirty bombs really shouldn't frighten anybody that much. The deadliest part is the actual bomb, the rest is primarily a financial weapon, one that would cost a lot to clean up but really wouldn't harm people. And there are sooooo many layers of security at a nuclear power plant that a terrorist isn't going to try anything there. Or if they do, get anything done besides get shot there. Nor can the reactor even be tripped with direct access to the control panel. Its just not possible.

Its chaos though. Denial , cleaning, it could take months or even years to make safe, cripple a city, send many thousands fleeing.
Pure terror.

Though any retaliation would be, well id not want to be on reciveing end of the counter attack. No one would be messing about with soft power, more a a rather large sledgehammer

That or a group who never where there deciding to make sure no one ever knows.

DutchWinsAll wrote:
Dirty bombs really shouldn't frighten anybody that much. The deadliest part is the actual bomb, the rest is primarily a financial weapon, one that would cost a lot to clean up but really wouldn't harm people. And there are sooooo many layers of security at a nuclear power plant that a terrorist isn't going to try anything there. Or if they do, get anything done besides get shot there. Nor can the reactor even be tripped with direct access to the control panel. Its just not possible.

Well, couldn't they just blow the reactor up?

 Iron_Captain wrote:

DutchWinsAll wrote:
Dirty bombs really shouldn't frighten anybody that much. The deadliest part is the actual bomb, the rest is primarily a financial weapon, one that would cost a lot to clean up but really wouldn't harm people. And there are sooooo many layers of security at a nuclear power plant that a terrorist isn't going to try anything there. Or if they do, get anything done besides get shot there. Nor can the reactor even be tripped with direct access to the control panel. Its just not possible.

Well, couldn't they just blow the reactor up?

This is admittedly anectodal, but I've got an uncle who was involved in building one of Sweden's nuclear reactors. Apparently the reactors themselves are ridiculously tough; they're meant to withstand direct impacts from commercial airliners ramming into them. "Just blowing the reactor up" is going to be very difficult.

I also don't think reactors quite work that way.

Well if they can get a bomb inside the building its another story

 LordofHats wrote:
I also don't think reactors quite work that way.

I think Iron_Captain meant "blow it up" as in bring their own bomb and sabotage the reactor so that it leaks radiation or overheats, not turning it into a nuclear bomb.

Oldmike wrote:
Well if they can get a bomb inside the building its another story

Not really. Assuming that the reactor is built to withstand the force of an airliner hitting it, a bomb is going to be peanuts in comparison. They'd have to drill into the reactor and place charges to blow it apart, and I'm fairly confident anti-terror police would get them before that happened.

 AlmightyWalrus wrote:


I think Iron_Captain meant "blow it up" as in bring their own bomb and sabotage the reactor so that it leaks radiation or overheats, not turning it into a nuclear bomb.

Oooh. Well yeah. that I suppose could happen XD

Assuming the reactor is protected in similar ways to a dam, they could fire artillery all the year at it and fail to accomplish much.

Given the danger of a breach any armour and concrete will be measured in metres. The main reactor core will be a veritable bunker.

You're all overestimating Belgian nuclear power plants.

 LordofHats wrote:

 AlmightyWalrus wrote:


I think Iron_Captain meant "blow it up" as in bring their own bomb and sabotage the reactor so that it leaks radiation or overheats, not turning it into a nuclear bomb.

Oooh. Well yeah. that I suppose could happen XD

Oj! Why aren't nuclear plants better guarded? There should be like an entire army regiment guarding it! And those moving laser beams you have to dodge that you always see in movies when they break in somewhere. Because that is cool.

 Iron_Captain wrote:

 LordofHats wrote:

 AlmightyWalrus wrote:


I think Iron_Captain meant "blow it up" as in bring their own bomb and sabotage the reactor so that it leaks radiation or overheats, not turning it into a nuclear bomb.

Oooh. Well yeah. that I suppose could happen XD

Oj! Why aren't nuclear plants better guarded? There should be like an entire army regiment guarding it! And those moving laser beams you have to dodge that you always see in movies when they break in somewhere. Because that is cool.

Clearly the best solution is a moat (that will keep the black knight at bay), and for all other potential threats we'll just fill with moat with sharks. Sharks with freakin laser beams on their heads!

Then again, if crap can leak out of a reactor, they can't be entirely impregnable:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/23/us/nuclear-plant-leak-threatens-drinking-water-wells-in-florida.html?_r=1


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/radioactive-leaks-found-at-75-of-us-nuke-sites/

Relapse wrote:
Then again, if crap can leak out of a reactor, they can't be entirely impregnable:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/23/us/nuclear-plant-leak-threatens-drinking-water-wells-in-florida.html?_r=1


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/radioactive-leaks-found-at-75-of-us-nuke-sites/

Yes there can be leakage, but the amounts you're talking about involve epidemiological studies worrying about a slight risk of cancer 20 years down the line, not a serious threat to public health. Terrorists simply couldn't access the core to try and get said material.

I can't speak for Belgian security measures, but I also can't imagine they're all that different from the US. You're talking dozens if not hundreds of armed guards with full-auto M4's everywhere. All reactors have multiple control centers, all independent and all set up to trip the control rods. You literally can't force a fuel rod overload, least not from groups whose main claim to technological fame is being able to use twitter.

As to bringing in a bomb, nothing short of another nuclear explosion is going to damage a reactor, and then well, were all fethed so who cares.

There's a reason the best these groups can do involves AK's and semtex.

The momment you trigger s nuclear security alert your going to get a whole lot moving.

One too many and your probably going to have a elite military chomando team hunting you. Those guys do not mess about with your Miranda rights.

DutchWinsAll wrote:

Relapse wrote:
Then again, if crap can leak out of a reactor, they can't be entirely impregnable:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/23/us/nuclear-plant-leak-threatens-drinking-water-wells-in-florida.html?_r=1


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/radioactive-leaks-found-at-75-of-us-nuke-sites/

Yes there can be leakage, but the amounts you're talking about involve epidemiological studies worrying about a slight risk of cancer 20 years down the line, not a serious threat to public health. Terrorists simply couldn't access the core to try and get said material.

I can't speak for Belgian security measures, but I also can't imagine they're all that different from the US. You're talking dozens if not hundreds of armed guards with full-auto M4's everywhere. All reactors have multiple control centers, all independent and all set up to trip the control rods. You literally can't force a fuel rod overload, least not from groups whose main claim to technological fame is being able to use twitter.

As to bringing in a bomb, nothing short of another nuclear explosion is going to damage a reactor, and then well, were all fethed so who cares.

There's a reason the best these groups can do involves AK's and semtex.

Before the last couple of days the Belgisn government didn't care the slightest.

Hardly any security and badly maintained, all conveniently built on the borders with other countries. They're a disaster, and living within the affected zone of one of the power plant sites they make me regularly fear for my safety.

 Iron_Captain wrote:

 LordofHats wrote:

 AlmightyWalrus wrote:


I think Iron_Captain meant "blow it up" as in bring their own bomb and sabotage the reactor so that it leaks radiation or overheats, not turning it into a nuclear bomb.

Oooh. Well yeah. that I suppose could happen XD

Oj! Why aren't nuclear plants better guarded? There should be like an entire army regiment guarding it! And those moving laser beams you have to dodge that you always see in movies when they break in somewhere. Because that is cool.

The ones from resident evil?

 LordofHats wrote:

 Iron_Captain wrote:

 LordofHats wrote:

 AlmightyWalrus wrote:


I think Iron_Captain meant "blow it up" as in bring their own bomb and sabotage the reactor so that it leaks radiation or overheats, not turning it into a nuclear bomb.

Oooh. Well yeah. that I suppose could happen XD

Oj! Why aren't nuclear plants better guarded? There should be like an entire army regiment guarding it! And those moving laser beams you have to dodge that you always see in movies when they break in somewhere. Because that is cool.

Clearly the best solution is a moat (that will keep the black knight at bay), and for all other potential threats we'll just fill with moat with sharks. Sharks with freakin laser beams on their heads!

Baiting Frazz here are you not?

I can see Europe seriously gearing up to be police states (Security Central)