Soft Asian Glow

It looks like there's been a major find in southeast Asia by Australia.

Australian nuclear experts working to prevent a "dirty bomb" attack by terrorists have found large unsecured sources of dangerous radioactive material in southeast Asia, a report said Monday.

A team from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) discovered enough loose material to contaminate the heart of a major city, the Australian newspaper reported.

At one site a "substantial" piece of cobalt used for cancer therapy had been found abandoned after a radiation centre was closed.

A conventional bomb wrapped around a small stick of cobalt could contaminate a large area of a city, dramatically boost cancer rates and force residents out for decades, scientists say.

"There are two countries where we have located quite large sources," ANSTO's chief of operations, Ron Cameron, told the paper. He declined to identify the countries until the material had been properly secured.

I'm guessing that this means that all the Iraqi yellowcake uranium that they found among scrap metal in Rotterdam is probably better off in Western Europe than it was in Iraq, eh? It's a good thing the media never talks about that! That'd be too honest, and it would show people that terrorism is a legitimate threat, particularly from (former) state sponsors of terror like Iraq!