In
September 1997, reports emerged that the
Soviet military intelligence agency (the
GRU) had developed numerous "
suitcase bombs." These reports alleged that the bombs measured
24 x
16 x
8 inches (
60 x
40 x
20 centimeters), and were to be used by
intelligence agents in Western cities in the event of a
superpower war.
On 7 September 1997, the CBS newsmagazine Sixty Minutes broadcast an alarming story in which former Russian National Security Adviser Aleksandr Lebed claimed that the Russian military had lost track of more than 100 suitcase-sized nuclear bombs, any one of which could kill up to 100,000 people.
Though doubts have been raised as to the credibility of the reports, a bomb this small is theoretically possible. Carey Sublette of the Federation of American Scientists notes that the smallest critical mass for plutonium is a 10.5 kg sphere 10.1 cm across. While this minimal critical mass alone could not cause an explosion, as little as 10 percent more plutonium could produce a .01-.02 kiloton explosion (10-20 tons of TNT), while 20 percent more plutonium could produce a .2 kt (200 ton) explosion. Not only would the explosions themselves be deadly, but the resulting radiation, especially in heavily populated areas, would be catastrophic. To fit this type of device into a suitcase only eight inches wide would probably require that the device use a linear implosion technology that would "squish" the plutonium into a large critical mass, allowing it to explode.
None the less... it's damned scary.