30 tons of bomb-grade ammonium nitrate vanish from sealed rail car in western US

The chemistry is the same; but the various vendors of porous prilled ammonium nitrate all seem pretty enthusiastic about extolling the virtues of their geometry vs. that of ammonium nitrate fertilizers for reliable ANFO-ing.

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Well that’s a relief. It’s certainly a good thing those kinds of explosives can’t be used to make some sort of improvised explosive device or something. I was just reading something similar about how Remington doesn’t make ammunition for killing people, but only for hunting. It’s completely safe for humans.

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Cbs Omg GIF by The Late Late Show with James Corden

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That’s not what said company is doing. If you are suggesting that somebody is out there picking up buckets of ammonium nitrite from between rails for some other purpose, sure, maybe.

I mean…this is the first definition that shows up…

So it seems like splitting hairs to try to differentiate between the one and the other in terms of the danger of this material.
Unless your point was that, had the material made it to its intended destination, it would not be likely to be turned into weapons.

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Ammonium nitrite is poured into drill holes and is not containerized as bombs are for distribution.

Okay, so they turn the whole rock into a bomb. I wish you’d clarified what your point is, though.

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Blame it on a click bait header. I’m done.

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Having a bad day?

I hope the weather where you are is as nice as it is here for a stepping out.

Sunny Day Baby GIF by Sealed With A GIF

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As a botanist, I say you will just have to wait and see. Literally.

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Add to botanist, water quality expert.
Algal blooms are real, and cause damage.
Best case scenario, this 30 tons is flooding the landscape it passed through, causing untold environmental changes.
Worst case, it’s now in the hands of someone or someone’s wanting to use it as explosives.
I didn’t mean to irk anyone above, but it seems like focusing on the click-bait nature of the headline while ignoring people’s real and valid concerns about the material going missing warranted a little friendly push back.

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Someone is going to have a big gender reveal party.

Grain hoppers will often leak along the tracks, either beside or between the rails, depending on type. Bears, other birds/beasts enjoy the spoils. In remote areas you can see out of place vegetation due to this

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I recently listened to the City of the Rails podcast, about a journalist mother whose daughter finishes high school and abruptly scoots to travel on the rails as a hobo. Along with the very human story is a fascinating insight into the politics and power behind freight rail in the US. Feels very relevant to this.

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Breaking Bad Train GIF

But the next one will be stopped by all the vegetation that springs up behind this one

Ammonium Nitrate can also be used to cool your beer. Mixed with water you get an endothermic reaction and cool beer.
As long as there isn’t a leaky diesel locomotive pushing the train the rail corridors of the USA will get greener.

I googled ammonium nitrate and bomb, I’m now waiting for the government to visit me.

And I’m sure I’m going to get some ammonium nitrate ads in my feeds later today.

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No, but:

Commercial ammonium nitrate is mainly manufactured either as fertiliser grade (FGAN) or as technical grade (TGAN). Fertiliser grade shows a high density […] and a high resistance to detonation.

So presumably this refers to TGAN (which is indeed used to manufacture explosives).

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That’s my suggestion too! Check for very healthy weeds.

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