Dec 01 2006

Zakayev’s Car Was Contaminated

As I posted the yesterday, the car of Ahmed Zakayev, a Chechen Rebel leader, was found to be contaminated with Polonium-210.

And the news that Scaramellas dose was much lower than Litvinenko’s plays a big role in possible scenarios of how the contamination spread.

6 responses so far

6 Responses to “Zakayev’s Car Was Contaminated”

  1. Doug says:

    I knew Soulman Putin would never do such a thing!

  2. Lizarde1 says:

    maybe not that small a dose – again conflicting reports:
    Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) — A “significant quantity” of radioactive material was found in an Italian associate of Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian spy who died after being poisoned with the same substance.

    The amount of polonium 210 found is of immediate concern as a risk to the man’s health, rather than a lower dose that may pose a latent cancer risk, a spokesman for the U.K. Health Protection Agency said today. Italy’s government said the man is Mario Scaramella, an academic. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=arFKya.Qn0H4&refer=home

  3. Enlightened says:

    I think things are more dire than the reports we are getting due to the nature of the poison and law enforcement not wanting a full scale panic on their hands.

    This is very disturbing.

  4. crosspatch says:

    I would say that with COBRA and the FBI’s weapons of mass destruction teams involved, it is something more than your average murder investigation.

  5. Doug says:

    Authorities say polonium is not dangerous unless swallowed, inhaled or absorbed through a wound.
    …or if you’re anywhere near the contamination!

    The head of Russia’s state atomic energy agency Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, told the government daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta Russia produces only 8 grams of polonium 210 a month. He said all goes to U.S. companies through a single authorised supplier.

    Where are we putting that stuff these days?

  6. crosspatch says:

    Static electricity elimination and air ionization. Basically the alpha particles neutralize a buildup of electrons by capturing them and creating helium. They will also strip electrons from molecules in the air resulting in ionization. The device still needs to be licensed and must have less than 500 micro-curies of polonium-210.

    http://www.nrc.gov/materials/miau/general-use.html