From TheBestLinks.com
Most often, dirty bomb is a colloquial term used to describe a radiological weapon. It refers especially to a weapon which disperses radioactive material with conventional explosives. The term was put in focus on June 10, 2002, when U.S. officials announced they had a month earlier captured an alledged al-Qaida terrorist named José Padilla in Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Padilla was charged with assisting in the construction of such a device.
The term dirty bomb also refers to any nuclear weapon that generates a significant amount of radioactive waste in the form of nuclear fallout. Due to the inefficiency of early nuclear weapons, 2% or less of the nuclear material would be consumed during the explosion. Thus, they tended to disperse large amounts of unused fissile material. The term does not necessarily refer to a specific nuclear weapon design, but is typically used to contrast with newer, more efficient bombs. Some nuclear weapon designs feature the inclusion of a salting metal (most commonly cobalt) which will create large amounts of long-lasting fallout radiation when radiated by the weapon core.
See also
The term "dirty bomb" has also been used in the press to describe improvised explosive devices which are designed to disperse a chemical weapon payload other than nulcear material, particularly when used in unconventional warfare.
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