How do people use nitro glycerin as a terrorist agent?

Question

I was reading about a cargo ship in CA where there was a terrorist threat involving nitro glycerin and I'm just wondering - is it like a nerve agent or bomb - I can't remember.

Answer 1

Anyone telling you about a possible threat of nitroglycerin being used by terrorists is lying to you.

Only VERY LARGE industrial organizations supported & protected by territorial State governments can afford the equipment & training to minimize the risk of nitroglycerin exploding during manufacture: for virtually everyone else on the planet, nitroglycerin manufacture is virtually impossible.

Nitroglycerin is so unstable that it is not directly used as an explosive ANYWHERE in the world -- NOT EVEN BY AL QAEDA.

Nitroglycerin is sometimes used in the manufacture of other, more common explosives (TNT is an example), but making those ultimately relies on a source for the nitroglycerin, and facilities and personnel competent to handle the substances involved.

The cost for a small-scale operation would be on the order of several million dollars per kilogram of explosive produced: terrorists may be stupid, but they aren't THAT stupid (or well-financed).

nitroglycerin is an explosive that is so sensitive to shock (physical, not electrical) and vibration -- almost anything sets it off -- that almost no one can handle it safely.

slight increases in temperature further destabilize the compound -- at anything above about 55 degF (12.78 degC), the risk of explosion increases exponentially. containers get HOT inside (think of a car in a sunny parking lot all day). BOOM!

the idea that it could be placed in a container (which will be subjected to the rigors of loading onto a trailer, transported over rough roads to a terminal, unloaded from the trailer and placed in a holding area, picked back up and put on a shuttle, loaded onto a ship, bounced around at sea for several days, unloaded from the ship and dropped onto a shuttle, unloaded into a holding area, picked back up and dropped onto another trailer that will be driven to some destination) IS PROFOUNDLY ABSURD.

Answer 2

They used to make dynamite with it by soaking saw dust or small wood chips in nitro glycerine, then wrapping it in heavy paper.

It is so unstable, no one uses it anymore. Not that I'm aware of.
It is more likely, that you would blow YOURSELF up before you could get it to it's final destination.

As far as the story you read, it's quite possible, that some terrorists came up with that plan.

No one has EVER claimed that they were smart!

Answer 3

Actally they use them for I.D.E or better knows as roadside bombs. They are used soley as an explosive device not a nerve agent. They use ng because its easy to obtain and can pack a big punch they set a charge to it and generally use a pager hooked up to it to set it off and since its so unstable it is more commonly used.

Answer 4

nitroglycerin is so explosive and unstable you can use it to terrorize yourself!

Alfred Nobel found a way to make it into dynamite to keep it from exploding spontaneously, and hoped it could be used for construction, demolition, and other peaceful purposes; and he made millions with the patent. But he was so disappointed about its being used for war that he left his money to establish the Nobel Peace Prize and other prizes for those who work to use science for the betterment of mankind.

Answer 5

No-one is going to use NG as an agent itself as it is way too unstable.

NG is simply an explosive (dynamite is the more stable form of this).

Answer 6

no its not a chemical threat its just highly explosive

Answer 7

it isnt a nerve agent..it's just an explosive....