Re: (rshsdepot) Madison, NJ

[Ivan Berger <oldmaven_@_comcast.net>]

Paul Luchter wrote:

> Is aluminum nitrate what the Oklahoma City bomber used?

It's ammonium nitrate, and yes.

> PS- Ammonium nitrate could be made in your backyard I presume, isn't it like
> a basic formula or something....Maybe they should guard such stuff better if
> they really cared, and since they don't want to keep gun background checks
> on gun purchases after 48 hours but care more about library records I wonder
> how serious they really are anyway

After the IRA started using ammonium nitrate in bombs, Europe started tracking
and controlling sales of it; we don't do that, here, so the only time eyebrows
get raised is when it's used for explosives or a bunch gets stolen (as recently
happened down South someplace -- 2.3 tons, as I recall).

Ammonium nitrate is not explosive in itself -- you mix it somehow with fuel
oil.  There are ways to treat the nitrate granules so the fuel oil won't
interact with them, while the nitrate remains water-soluble for fertilizer use;
this may already be in use in Europe, but not here.

- -Ivan Berger


=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

------------------------------

End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #965
*******************************

=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org