Are Suitcase Nukes Being Brought Across the Mexican Border?

With technology growing day by day, how safe are we from weapons of mass destruction (WMD) from being just walked across our borders? Suitcase nukes or suitcase bombs are compact and very portable. They also hold the ability to cause devastating destruction.

A suitcase nuke can have the dimensions of 60 x 40 x 20 centimeters or 24 x 16 x 8 inches and they are becoming smaller all the time. The smaller possible bomb like object would be a single mass of plutonium (or U-233) at maximum density under normal conditions.

Back in the late 1990's it was found that al-Qaida had bought nuclear weapons and items to assemble them from a scientist in the Ukraine. The late General Alexander Lebed claimed that a special commission established by the Russian government in 1996 could no account for about 100 portable nuclear devices, commonly known as suitcase nukes.

According to captured al-Qaida leaders and documents obtained in 2005, a plan by al-Qaida called "American Hiroshima" was in play. It involves the multiple detonations of nuclear devices smuggled into the United States over the Mexican border. It is expected that over 40 "nuclear suitcases" had been purchased from the Soviet Union at that time.

Only nations with extremely advanced nuclear programs could manufacture warheads small enough to fit in suitcases. Both the United States and the Soviet Union manufactured nuclear weapons of this size during the cold war.

Nuclear and radiolological weapons kill people not only by their impact and explosion, but also with the radioactive material they emit. The following are various ways radiation can be spread to humans.

External radiation - this occurs when either part of or all of the body is exposed from an external source. This would be when a person is standing near the site where a radiological device is set off and the person is exposed to radiation, which is then absorbed by the body and can pass completely through it.

Contamination - occurs when radioactive materials in the form of solids, liquids, gases are released into the air and contaminate people externally, internally or both. This happens when body parts such as the skin become contaminated and/or if it gets inside the body via the lungs or wounds.

Incorporation of radioactive material - this happens when body cells, tissues, and organs such as bone, liver, thyroid, or kidney are contaminated.

Gamma radiation can travel far in the air and once in the human tissue therefore it represents a major external threat. Beta radiation can travel meters in the air and can moderately penetrate human skin, but clothing and some protection can help. Alpha radiation travels very short distance through the air and cannot penetrate the skin, but can be harmful if inhaled, swallowed or absorbed through open wounds.

It is obvious our borders, especially the Mexican border needs tighter security. No suitcase nukes have been discovered at the border as far as we know about it. This does not mean they have not entered. I hope that for the sake of all Americans security will be tightened on this particular issue at least.