Nato concerned Isil is plotting nuclear attack on UK

[Tony Starks]

Out of curiosity, how many successful/attempted dirty/radioactive type attacks have there been?

I know the Russians make a mean cuppa, but that didnt exactly cause wide spread damage/hysteria or a massive death toll.

[Timmy40]

Tony Starks said:

Out of curiosity, how many successful/attempted dirty/radioactive type attacks have there been?

I know the Russians make a mean cuppa, but that didnt exactly cause wide spread damage/hysteria or a massive death toll.

The only one I can think of is the Sasrin Gas attack on teh Japanese metro system.

[Zod]

yellowjack, if you had ever seen any real intelligence, you'd have signed the Official Secrets Act and you wouldn't be positing here about it. Therefore, I conclude that you are a fantasist.

[RizzoTheRat]

Nobody signs the official secrets act, in the same way that nobody signs the homicide act. It's a law and we're all bound by it.

[Timmy40]

Zod said:

yellowjack, if you had ever seen any real intelligence, you'd have signed the Official Secrets Act and you wouldn't be positing here about it. Therefore, I conclude that you are a fantasist.

Ignore him yellowjack, you can come and help me in my workshop, the pigeon I'm trying to implant keeps wriggling free from the tea towel I've wrapped it up in.

[TTwiggy]

RizzoTheRat said:

Nobody signs the official secrets act, in the same way that nobody signs the homicide act. It's a law and we're all bound by it.

My mother did so, in the 1980s, and all she ever did was type out police statements!

[Zod]

Really?

[wolves_wanderer]

Timmy40 said:

Ignore him yellowjack, you can come and help me in my workshop, the pigeon I'm trying to implant keeps wriggling free from the tea towel I've wrapped it up in.

I'm hoping that somewhere in Hereford, maybe near the boathouse, there is a poster dedicated to the 2016 Radioactive Pigeon Arse Plot

[wolves_wanderer]

RizzoTheRat said:

Nobody signs the official secrets act, in the same way that nobody signs the homicide act. It's a law and we're all bound by it.

I did when I was in the Air Cadets. You could torture me all you like but I will never divulge the internal layout of 8 AEF or RAF Stafford.

[RobGT81]

RizzoTheRat said:

Nobody signs the official secrets act, in the same way that nobody signs the homicide act. It's a law and we're all bound by it.

There certainly is a piece of paper that people sign. Been a while since somebody told me about it. It mentioned something about the boat house at Hereford. The signed paper does exist though.

[RizzoTheRat]

Zod said:

Really?

That form is one you sign to say your aware of the existence of the act, and is just a bit of an arse covering exercise and reminding people about it. If you read the declarations bit it's all about being aware of the act and it's implications. The actual act is part of UK law and you can be prosecuted under it without signing that declaration.

ETA: Just checked and it only applies to be people who work for, or have worked for the government, which I didn't realise. So if a government contractor gave a document to a journalist, and the journalist published it, the contractor is liable under the act as he's been working for the government, but the journalist wouldn't be in breach of the act...unless they'd formerly worked for the government in any capacity. Not sure how that would work if they's previously been a cadet though

Edited by RizzoTheRat on Thursday 21st April 10:41

[ATG]

TTwiggy said:

RizzoTheRat said:

Nobody signs the official secrets act, in the same way that nobody signs the homicide act. It's a law and we're all bound by it.

My mother did so, in the 1980s, and all she ever did was type out police statements!

Rizzo is right in that everyone is/was bound by the official secrets act whether or not they had signed that bit of paper. But people most certainly used to be presented with it and used to sign it ... no doubt millions of civil servants did so over the years. (I did once, because I am earth shatteringly cool.) The basis of the OSA was really rather dodgy and it isn't at all obvious what legal force signing that declaration was supposed to have, but it might have encouraged a few people to be a bit more circumspect I suppose about trivia. I rather doubt Ivan ever thought "Gah! My plot to steal secrets for Uncle Joe is foiled because I've been reminded about the OSA so I have to keep my big commie mouth shut. Imperialist swine!"

[Tony Starks]

Timmy40 said:

The only one I can think of is the Sasrin Gas attack on teh Japanese metro system.

Would be keen to know by the more knowledgeable folks about Japans history of terrorist attacks versus the UK/Europe.

All I remember growing up was IRA stuff and the more recent stuff. So its always been there. Meaning our Police/security services are much more experienced, reducing the risks if something similar happening in the UK.

[ATG]

OSA also seemed to fail to ever let anyone divulge anything. Before you could disclose a secret it requires you to have authorisation from someone. But that someone had to get authorisation from someone else first. So you have to escalate the request either ad infinitum or perhaps it would have been OK to stop at the Queen?

[Timmy40]

Tony Starks said:

Timmy40 said:

The only one I can think of is the Sasrin Gas attack on teh Japanese metro system.

Would be keen to know by the more knowledgeable folks about Japans history of terrorist attacks versus the UK/Europe.

All I remember growing up was IRA stuff and the more recent stuff. So its always been there. Meaning our Police/security services are much more experienced, reducing the risks if something similar happening in the UK.

Quite. My view is that compared to the levels of expertise and training the IRA attained at their peak ISIL certainly outside of Syria are at best disorganised amateurs. Belgium was an easy target because it has ( pretty much by it's own admission ) asbolutely crap security service organisation, and France has an open border with Belgium effectively making it the same country.

[clonmult]

ATG said:

TTwiggy said:

RizzoTheRat said:

Nobody signs the official secrets act, in the same way that nobody signs the homicide act. It's a law and we're all bound by it.

My mother did so, in the 1980s, and all she ever did was type out police statements!

Rizzo is right in that everyone is/was bound by the official secrets act whether or not they had signed that bit of paper. But people most certainly used to be presented with it and used to sign it ... no doubt millions of civil servants did so over the years. (I did once, because I am earth shatteringly cool.) The basis of the OSA was really rather dodgy and it isn't at all obvious what legal force signing that declaration was supposed to have, but it might have encouraged a few people to be a bit more circumspect I suppose about trivia. I rather doubt Ivan ever thought "Gah! My plot to steal secrets for Uncle Joe is foiled because I've been reminded about the OSA so I have to keep my big commie mouth shut. Imperialist swine!"

But in some positions you definitely do have to actually sign the paperwork depending on the nature of the data that you'll have available. I definitely had to sign it .... and had a colleague who was fired for breach of the act. As I understand it, such things are rare.

[hairykrishna]

Timmy40 said:

Tony Starks said:

Out of curiosity, how many successful/attempted dirty/radioactive type attacks have there been?

I know the Russians make a mean cuppa, but that didnt exactly cause wide spread damage/hysteria or a massive death toll.

The only one I can think of is the Sasrin Gas attack on teh Japanese metro system.

Sarin's a nerve toxin so the Tokyo attack doesn't really qualify. Outside of the Russians poisoning people I'm not sure there have been any.

[otolith]

There have been a couple of very nasty accidents with misplaced industrial or medical radiological material, though, which gives some idea of the damage that could be caused. Again, not so much in terms of deaths, but in terms of leaving a hell of a mess that costs a lot of time and money to clean up.

http://listverse.com/2011/08/07/10-more-cases-of-d...

[The Wookie]

s3fella said:

With luck they will implant the bomb in Merkel

A snuke?

[Dave_ST220]

otolith said:

There have been a couple of very nasty accidents with misplaced industrial or medical radiological material, though, which gives some idea of the damage that could be caused. Again, not so much in terms of deaths, but in terms of leaving a hell of a mess that costs a lot of time and money to clean up.

http://listverse.com/2011/08/07/10-more-cases-of-d...

Some grim reading there.