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CNN Live At Daybreak

Does Bin Laden Have a Weapon Called a Dirty Bomb in His Arsenal?

Aired December 05, 2001 - 0:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: We are learning a term in the vocabulary of terrorism. It is a weapon called a dirty bomb and many are asking if it's possible that Osama bin Laden has such a device in his arsenal.

CNN national security correspondent David Ensor reports on just what a dirty bomb is and what kind of threat it could pose.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At a meeting of senior lieutenants of Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan within the past year, U.S. intelligence officials say, one person held up a cylinder, claiming it contained highly radioactive material. He waved it around as proof of al Qaeda's progress towards building a radiological device often referred to as a dirty bomb.

A dirty bomb is a crude device made by wrapping highly radioactive material such as spent nuclear fuel rods around a conventional explosive like TNT. The radioactive active material would probably not raise the death toll but it could sow panic.

ROGER HAGENGRUBER, SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORY: This would be a major psychological problem in a public way. But its threat, as a threat, it's not going to kill a lot of people, by and large.

ENSOR: The radioactive material would make cleaning up the aftermath of a terrorist incident even more dangerous and difficult, experts say. But handled correctly, it would not dramatically increase longer term health risks to those exposed.

DAVID ALBRIGHT, INSTITUTE FOR SCIENCE & INTERNATIONAL SECURITY: Even if it's a fairly significant radiological tact -- a fairly significant radiological attack, it's not like 20 years from now we're going to see this huge spike in deaths from cancer.

ENSOR: Al Qaeda's interest in learning how to make nuclear weapons is clear from materials recently found by journalists and others in the group's safe houses in Kabul. There is also evidence the group has tried hard to obtain materials to make a nuclear bomb. In the New York trial of al Qaeda members accused in the Africa embassy bombings, Jamal Ahmed al-Fadl testified that an attempt was made in 1993 to buy South African bomb grade uranium. ALBRIGHT: My understanding is it was highly enriched uranium and that they didn't get it and it was a scam.

ENSOR: That failure may not have stopped the efforts. In recent months, a senior Russian general said terrorists -- he did not say which ones -- were seen snooping around some little known nuclear facilities in Russia. And in Pakistan, this man, Bashiruddin Mahmood, and another former Pakistani atomic scientist have been detained. They are being questioned about their trips to Afghanistan and alleged meetings with Osama bin Laden. They insist they were only working for a Muslim charity.

(on camera): Still, it would be much easier for terrorists to get their hands on radioactive materials such as those used in medical research, not nuclear weapons grade, but usable in a dirty bomb. And cleaning up after such an explosion, experts say, could take years.

David Ensor, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: Well, the reports that we've been seeing from Afghanistan are just a short glimpse into what is actually going on there. The reporters on the ground have seen the horrors of war up close and they shared some of their insights with CNN's Larry King.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What should be pointed out is that the Northern Alliance was very aware of what the international community was thinking and saying about it, and perhaps what residents of some of those cities, because the fact of the matter is that back between '92 and '96, there was mayhem, and the Northern Alliance was partly responsible for that.

And so I believe that some of the people, like Dr. Abdullah, Haron Amin, many of the people who you've had on your air, were very, very conscious about what they had to do when they took Kabul. And I think that we have seen that borne out.

SEBASTIAN JUNGER, JOURNALIST/AUTHOR: It's a very, very exotic country. I mean, just as a place to be, the landscape, the people are absolutely stunning. It really is like going almost to another planet, at least for someone who was brought up on the East Coast of the U.S.

As far as covering wars go, I'm amazed at how much access the Northern Alliance has granted. I mean, basically, journalists were given the freedom to get themselves killed if they wanted to. In Bosnia was actually quite hard to get close to the frontlines. In Afghanistan, hey, if you want to go forward with the first tanks, go ahead. And you saw that in the incredible death toll of journalists in just a few days there. It was really horrifying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: Now target Larry King will be talking about the challenges and the dangers the U.S. faces as it wages war on terrorism. His guest will be Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. You can see that interview on LARRY KING LIVE at 9:00 president.m. Eastern time right here.

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