So yes, encasing a fission device in natural cobalt will activate a goodly portion of the cobalt to Co-60m (if memory serves) with a 5 year half life. As a rule of thumb, after 5 half-lives the radiation levels are at 1% of intitial levels. Using sodium, as in table salt, gives radiosodium (Na-24) with a 15 hour half life and a 2.7 MeV gamma.

I remember talk of an Israeli placement of nuclear “mines” (atomic demolition munitions or ADM) on the critical passes through the Negev desert, salted with sodium chloride in the days prior to the Egyptian peace settlement. The idea being that an advancing Egyptian army would trigger the nuclear explosions, blanketing the passes with Na-24. This could make passage lethal for enough days to allow Israelis to rally on a defensive line to the east and the destruction of the blocked forces to the west with air power.

Other elements suitable as the “salt” include gold, tantalum, and zinc.

None of these have publically been designed, built, or tested.

The world should take this nut Ahmedinejad at his word and stop wasting time trying to appease him.
Better to bomb his dark fantasies with Bunker Busters now rather than retaliate his evil acts with nukes later.

Israel has not the luxury of trail and error. It is such a small nation of a densely packed population that one huge nuclear weapon or even a couple decent sized ones pretty much wipe that nation out.

If you can reasonably calculate, based on prior statements and the operative theology of the enemy, that MAD would not work, WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO DENY THE TRUTH AND CONTINUE TO THINK THAT IT WOULD WORK? It is insanity or an exercise in mental masturbation to dally on in endless discussions – no matter how sophisticated those discussions are – about how Obama’s policy could work. It won’t. It rests on faulty premises not based in fact.

I still marvel that people who are supposedly educated could see this thing in a way that is so at variance with reality.

Nothing we, Obama, or the Arabs do can destroy Israel. Numerous Jews may die, but Israel itself is indestructible. The Lord will see to that, I assure you.

As for poisoning the environment, if that is the goal, then a Cobalt bomb is your weapon of choice. It’s blast yield is in the low kiloton range, but it leaves behind massive quantities of Cobalt-60, which renders large areas of land uninhabitable for 50 years. This is because it is a beta-emitter, but 60% of its decay energy is released as gamma radiation. Thus, it has a massive power source to draw on to emit highly penetrating gamma radiation. Interestingly enough, the Bible does speak of Tyre and Sidon being destroyed and left uninhabited for 70 years before being rebuilt. This is consistent with being hit by a Cobalt bomb. Read Isaiah 23 for details.

She says that Netanyahu spent his entire first term as PM fending off President Clinton’s attempts to force him out of office.