man, this russian spy hit story is crazy, isn’t it?
Let me get this straight: A former Russian agent dies first of “bad sushi”, then it’s discovered he died of polonium-210 poisoning.
About that: Polonium is a very-rare but naturally-occuring radioactive element, and can also be made in a lab. It has a half-life of 138 days. It emits alpha particles and apparently can be used in triggers for nuclear weapons.
Alpha particles — provided the emission source is outside the body — are largely harmless. They very quickly, within a few inches of their emission source, bond with free electrons to form helium. If, however, that ionization is done inside the body, destroying atoms and creating new ones from the material of your body, you’re in big trouble. That’s what we like to call “radiation poisoning”.
A little goes a long way — the Los Alamos National Lab says in its periodic table Web site for kids that
Polonium-210 is very dangerous to handle in even milligram or microgram amounts, and special equipment and strict control is necessary. Damage arises from the complete absorption of the energy of the alpha particle into tissue.
The maximum permissible body burden for ingested polonium is only 0.03 microcuries, which represents a particle weighing only 6.8 x 10-12 g. Weight for weight it is about 2.5 x 10^11 times as toxic as hydrocyanic acid. The maximum allowable concentration for soluble polonium compounds in air is about 2 x 10-11 microcuries/cm3.
6.8 x 10-12 g = .0000000000068 grams. In other words, it wouldn’t take much to punch your ticket.
Now, enough of the geekery: The Russian agent, Alexander Litvitenko, left enough of the stuff around before he died to leave a trail. The London Times attempted to reconstruct it from what is known: He picked up a paper at a newsstand (where no radiation has been found) at noon, and then met with Mario Scaramella, an “international security consultant” — who just happens to specialize in the disposition of nuclear waste, particularly that left by decommissioned Soviet nuclear weapons — for sushi at a London restaurant. Scaramella says that he had information regarding the hit on Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, a tough critic of the Putin regime. Litvitenko then met up with two Russian “businessmen”, Dimitri Kovtun and Andrei Lugovoi, and the three were to discuss an oil and gas deal. He then met up with wealthy Russian exile Boris Berezovsky, another Putin critic.
Litvitenko was recently made a British citizen, so whoever “did it” murdered a British national and is smack-in-the-middle of a massive international incident. The rarity and specialization of the chosen murder weapon — the polonium-210 — points quite clearly to a government, one with the capability to produce nuclear weapons. Like Russia for instance.
I doubt the true nature of the plot will ever be told, but it’s pretty clear that Vladimir Putin either ordered himself or knows who did. Putin — a former KGB agent — and his pals are nostalgic for the old days, and this seems little more than a KGB hit. Count Bush’s attempted “reading” of Putin — “I was able to get a sense of his soul” — as a great farce.
11.28.2006 @ 01:22
Did you just watch Casino Royale, or what?
11.28.2006 @ 19:36
No, but I had just been reading that Times of London piece I linked, and I thought, “Can this get any crazier than it is now?” I think it’s crazier than any Fleming book.
12.01.2006 @ 09:35
I don’t buy the story.
Massively toxic in ultra small amounts and requires special handling:- so it get sprinkled on his sushi??
Then lots of it left around in places where he’d been but nobody else gets poisoned, not even the perpetrator??
And, massively expensive with a half life of 138 days?? By the time you’ve produced it, distributed it and “done the deed” half of it (and your money) is gone.
Nup. Not buying this at all.
And only an average film plot. Casino Royale makes more sense.
12.01.2006 @ 09:47
Bob: It could be kept in something like a Tupperware container or a stoppered test tube without being harmful to anyone. Alpha rays are blocked by something as flimsy as a piece of paper. But, I’ll admit: The problem I have with the scenario is that at the time of application to the sushi, the assassin would have to take care not to breathe the motes in or get them on his skin. And that would be difficult.
The application could, I suppose, been carried out in any number of ways by a professional assassin.