One of the things I really worried about regarding the Litvinenko story was the fact the material used, while bloody dangerous and costly for assassination, was well suited as parts for a nuclear trigger in primitive nuclear bomb designs (like those from the 1940’s through 1960 or so). I could never get by the fact there were three rounds of meetings between Litvinenko and Lugovoi and each included lots of contaminated rooms at hotels where these people stayed. More rooms than they needed (1-2 rooms for the central characters, 3-5 rooms contaminated). It looked more like a smuggling ring with people either bringing in material to a collection point or material was going out from a distribution center.

Now we find another nuclear weapon puzzle piece which looks damn disconcerting when you think about materials for nuclear triggers snaking through London last fall:

A British company has been closed down after being caught in an apparent attempt to sell black-market weapons-grade uranium to Iran and Sudan, The Observer can reveal.

Anti-terrorist officers and MI6 are now investigating a wider British-based plot allegedly to supply Iran with material for use in a nuclear weapons programme. One person has already been charged with attempting to proliferate ‘weapons of mass destruction’.

During the 20-month investigation, which also involved MI5 and Customs and Excise, a group of Britons was tracked as they obtained weapons-grade uranium from the black market in Russia. Investigators believe it was intended for export to Sudan and on to Iran.

Note where the uranium came from – Russia. Where did the Polonium-210 come from that killed Litvinenko and sickened Lugovoi and Kovtun? Russia! The Po-210, with the shortest half-life, would be the last element you would bring to the nuclear weapon before you planned to deploy it and use it. Assuming that to deploy a weapon can take some months, then the Po-210 would definitely need to arrive as late as possible to complete the trigger and integrate it into the final weapon. Of course you could move the weapon out earlier and then have the trigger come in later, prior to detonation. But the point is the same – Polonium based triggers would be one of the last pieces to the bomb.

A number of Britons, who are understood to have links with Islamic terrorists abroad, remain under surveillance. Investigators believe they have uncovered the first proof that al-Qaeda supporters have been actively engaged in developing an atomic capability. The British company, whose identity is known to The Observer but cannot be disclosed for legal reasons, has been wound up.

I guess I do not need to remind everyone Litvinenko and his boss Boris Berezovsky have strong and well known ties to Islamic extremists inside Chechnya. Is it unreasonable to speculate Russian dissidents who want to overthrow Putin’s government would work to get some weapons into Chechen and Iranian hands for a coordinated attack on the West? Seems like an obvious plan to me. Check out the timing on this:

British agents believe Russian black-market uranium was destined for Sudan, described as a ‘trans-shipment’ point. The alleged plot, however, was disrupted in early 2006, before the nuclear material reached its final destination.

OK, Lugovoi, the Russian who is being charged in the death of Litvinenko, recently claimed Litvinenko sent him gifts contaminated with Po-210 in the summer of 2006. Coincidence of timing? And the Po-210 was moving through the UK in the fall of 2006. So why is it plausible UK companies may have been unaware of the nature of what they were dealing with, but for Russians like Lugovoi and Kovtun they are supposed to have known what they were handling??? Personally I find these two stories too close in time and character not to connect some plausible dots. Sadly I am not an intelligence expert. I am a skeptic.

Investigators are understood to have evidence that Iran was to receive the uranium to help develop a nuclear weapons capability.

Recall Litvinenko traveled to Turkey and Georgia during the Po-210 period, at least that is the claim of Lugovoi and not disputed by Berezovsky. Both of these countries are smuggling on-ramps to Iran and the Middle East.

The article refers to the other coordination point – Sudan. I have no idea, but if Litvinenko, Berezovsky, Lugovoi or Kovtun traveled to somewhere near the Sudan or not, but I would find that too much of a coincidence to ignore. And if these coincidences keep piling up, we will need to know whether these people around Litvinenko were working for us or against us. When Litvinenko was hailed as a martyr of the jihadist cause by the Chechens after his death, I wonder ed why people were not more concerned with what he was doing near material used for nuclear triggers. Now I am doubly concerned. H/T Rocket’s Brain Trust and Atlas Shrugs