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wellerstein's profile
Alex Wellerstein
Alex Wellerstein
Alex Wellerstein
Verified account
@wellerstein

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Alex WellersteinVerified account

@wellerstein

Historian of science, secrecy, and nuclear weapons. Professor of STS at @FollowStevens. UC Berkeley alum with a Harvard PhD. NUKEMAP creator. Coder and web dev.

Hoboken, NJ / NYC
blog.nuclearsecrecy.com
Joined September 2011

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    1. Jesse Emspak‏Verified account @Mad_Science_Guy 27 Apr 2017
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      Replying to @Mad_Science_Guy @wellerstein

      because your local terror group will for sure go with reliable, technically "easy", and casualty/disruption-generating.

      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
    2. Jesse Emspak‏Verified account @Mad_Science_Guy 27 Apr 2017
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      Replying to @Mad_Science_Guy @wellerstein

      (I'm not saying terrorists would use a nuke either, but worth asking why "caper" attacks like that are very rare between warring nations)

      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
    3. Alex Wellerstein‏Verified account @wellerstein 27 Apr 2017
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      Replying to @Mad_Science_Guy

      The difficulty of a terrorist pulling this off is terrorists getting a nuke in the first place. Which is a separate issue. DPRK has nukes.

      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
    4. Jesse Emspak‏Verified account @Mad_Science_Guy 27 Apr 2017
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      Replying to @wellerstein

      right, but as a terrorist, why not just pack a shipping container full of c4? lots of disruption even minus casualties. POint is+

      4 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
    5. Alex Wellerstein‏Verified account @wellerstein 27 Apr 2017
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      Replying to @Mad_Science_Guy

      My rough estimate is that at maximum packing you could fit maybe 67 tons of C4 in a shipping container. Big boom! But not nuke-level.

      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
    6. Jesse Emspak‏Verified account @Mad_Science_Guy 27 Apr 2017
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      Replying to @wellerstein

      no, but it would shut down the port of Oakland or Long Beach for a week, right?

      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
    7. Alex Wellerstein‏Verified account @wellerstein 27 Apr 2017
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      Replying to @Mad_Science_Guy

      Sure, but that's still several orders of magnitude few problems than a nuke. And again we are talking about a state, not a terrorist org.

      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
    8. Jesse Emspak‏Verified account @Mad_Science_Guy 27 Apr 2017
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      Replying to @wellerstein

      that's the point, tho: why don't states do this all the time, if attacking ports though shipping with secreted bombs is such a great plan?+

      4 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
    9. Alex Wellerstein‏Verified account @wellerstein 27 Apr 2017
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      Replying to @Mad_Science_Guy

      Well, this gets at a question I like to ask my students. If blowing things is easy, why doesn't it happen more often?

      2 replies 0 retweets 1 like
    10. Jesse Emspak‏Verified account @Mad_Science_Guy 27 Apr 2017
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      Replying to @wellerstein

      exactly! There are lots of "easy" terrorist tactics that were in wide use for years. Crazy capers? Not so much.

      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
      Alex Wellerstein‏Verified account @wellerstein 27 Apr 2017
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      Replying to @Mad_Science_Guy

      Though, again, 9/11 was not an "easy" operation. It took huge amount of planning/work/funds. Definitely not the path of least resistance.

      11:51 AM - 27 Apr 2017
      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
        1. Pls retweet ma witticisms‏ @Cancun771 28 Apr 2017
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          Replying to @wellerstein @Mad_Science_Guy

          Not to mention adjusting the laws of physics. That must've cost a pretty penny!

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