Dec 01 2006
The List Of Contaminated Sites
Update: New twist on the timeline from this article referenced by a reader:
Scaramella also described how Litvinkeno had mentioned he had been at a meeting beforehand.
“He said to me that he was in London to see some people in the morning and that he would be free to see me in the afternoon,” he said.
“When he arrived he did not mention who he met but I understand the authorities are investigating the possibility he was poisoned at this meeting.
So let’s do some ‘what if’ exercises. What if Litvinenko did meet with the Russians from the Millenium Hotel in the morning and they did have a leaky container of Polonium-210 that they provided to Litvinenko. Litvinenko is to deliver this to Berezovsky’s office, but first meets with Scaramella. After that meeting Litvinenko takes the leaky container to Berezovsky’s office or meets Berezovsky (or an associate) someplace to transfer the container and recieve payment. Litvinenko then goes to the Millenium hotel again for the beer and a quick drop off of the money to be given to Lugovoi and his boys for bringing the Polonium into the UK. That would explain the urinal dose in the Hotel Bar bathroom (Litvinenko) in the evening (hours after the first contamination) and the high dose in the Russian’s room at the hotel (and why it only showed up in one room and not all three). That kind of scenario would put all the contamination in the right place with the right signature (and may even explain why Zakayev’s car was contaminated). Food for thought – end update
Finally we have a new list of the contaminated sites and we see that 58 Grosvenor Street did show signs of contamination (this site was listed with the Sheraton Park Lane as only a possible site until now).
The offices of exiled Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky at 7 Down Street, Mayfair. Itsu sushi bar in Piccadilly, where Mr Litvinenko met the self-styled Italian defence expert Mario Scaramella at around 3pm on the day he fell ill. The Millennium Hotel in Grosvenor Square, where the former spy then met the former KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi and business associate Dmitry Kovtun. The headquarters of security company Erinys at 25 Grosvenor Street, Mayfair – visited by Mr Litvinenko just after 6pm that day. A second office block in Grosvenor Street, at number 58. Mr Litvinenko’s home in Muswell Hill, north London
The order of the list is interesting. It just about mirrors the timeline, though there has been no confirmation Berezovsky’s offices are actually the earliest contamination point known.
Update: It would seem the actual Polonium was making its rounds and must have been in a leaky container given the signature at the Millenium Hotel. It is my suspicion Litvinenko was transporting the material (for Berezovsky) and it may have been destined for the 3 Russians since one of their rooms is so highly contaminated.
Clear traces of the radiation had been found on the floor and the light switch of a room in London’s Millenium Hotel where Litvinenko met two Russian contacts on November 1, the day he fell ill.
‘The traces were so strong that they indicated the actual source of the radiation was present, not a secondary source such as excretions from Litvinneko’s contaminated body,’ said the Daily Telegraph.
It seems the material was in a form that included dust, which is the only way Scaramella and Litvinenko could have ingested (inhaled) the poison at the Sushi Bar. If Litvinenko had the material on him it would make sense he would get a larger dose since the density would disperse with distance in air. Scaramella would be far enough away to get a smaller dose since there would be less Polonium per cubic inch as the ‘cloud’ dissipated from Litvinenko.
I’m struggling with whether Litvinenko was killed or poisoned himself. If even one of the 3 Russians brought the Po210 and gave a leaky vial to Sasha he should have been similarly poisoned, having traveled far and long with it. And why drop it on the floor of the hotel room if it was just a handoff? Also, is it possible Sasha recieved such a big dose by just carrying a leaky container and associated lower levels of ingested polonium? If I was carrying around a vial of Po210 I’d be dropping it as fast as possible, washing my hands compulsively and checking for contamination, and definitely avoiding eating or drinking until I was sure I was in the clear. Guess I’m still leaning toward an assassination.
If Litvinenko is sweating polonium, if any material object is exchanged between then, the contamination will pass with the object. If he is contaminated by a soluble salt on is hands, same thing.
If he was knowingly exposed to the stuff as some sort of nuclear material, maybe he wasn’t aware of exactly what it was or how dangerous it was. The only times I had seen polonium mentioned in the past was in conjunction with radon gas and cigarette smoke carcinogen papers. In other words, my experience with reading about it has been in the context of it being pretty much the most carcinogenic substance known.
A Googlemaps mashup map of the places in the list. The two hospitals where Litvinenko was attended have tested positive according to some reports. However, most locations are on a small area in the West End