Dec 20 2006

Polonium-210 Is Good For Dirty Bomb

This article describes how Polonium-210 is an optimal choice for a dirty bomb, while trying to claim it was a brillian choice for assassination (which clearly cannot be the conclusion of the Litvinenko incident since it failed at going undetected). With the yet to be explained discrepency of the Litvinenko dose (a grain of salt) and three or more rounds of smuggling (for a grain of salt?) I would say the article makes a good case why the entire event is not an assassination effort.

8 responses so far

8 Responses to “Polonium-210 Is Good For Dirty Bomb”

  1. crosspatch says:

    There are much scarier ways of using polonium than in a bomb and it would be absolutely terrifying because by the time it was realized what was happening, the damage would have already been done. There would be nothing that could be done to avoid it. What was really going on here must be discovered. One thing I am certain of is that it is not a soap opera murder of a low level irritant to “send a message”. That could have been done with a conventional bullet.

    Was this article ever brought up here? It dates back to December 9th.

    The British mention a some kind of “large team” in place in London. I suspect such a “large team” might also fit the profile of a security operation if an extremely high value cargo was being smuggled. There might be a shadow security team in place in case the cargo was stolen.

    It could also be that Russian intelligence was aware of the smuggling operation and had it under surveillance. In that case, they would not likely mention anything about it publically.

  2. Carol_Herman says:

    Scaramella was probably the BUYER!

    Litvinenko the “supplier’s agent.” And, hence, Scaramella probably thought he had a “safe way” to “test” if the polonium was “real.”

    You’d think the contact would have been fast. But it seems to have been “chatty.” Though Litvinenko DID NOT TAKE Scaramella to the “usual places.” Just to an eatery he happened to like. While, I’ll bet, the Italian said he HATED raw fish!

    But what was the rush?

    On the other hand, Scaramella got “first degree contamination.” Not second degree. Which would come from shaking hands. Or something like that.

    That means? Litvinenko KNEW where the “substance was.” It may have been IN Boris’ office? I mean, what are you talking about, here? Something the size of a PIN HEAD?

    The glass vial, that may have contained this “substance,” was also stupidly handled. SO it “gave off” vibrations, starting with it’s first export on October 28th. From Moscow. WIth a pit stop in Hamburg, Germany.

    The actual villains? About 3 or 4 people. If you count both parts of the equation. Litvinenko, and the other two russians. Plus, Scaramella. The e-mail is a McGUFFIN!

    The stops?

    To trade, perhaps, required a bank. Most people don’t travel with millions.

    But don’t put anything clandestine, now, past the Italians. They’re capable. And, they’ve been damaging American interests since Ambassador Wilson “stumbled” early, upon the fake Niger documents. OVER THEIR EYEBALLS! Hard even to tell “good guys from bad guys.”

    And, for all we know? Just like Chernobyl, accident prone CRIMINALS! Including the dude who got his brains blown out IN Sgrena’s car. Without any bullets flying in. (Though she claimed “hundreds” of shells.) And, then ya got the American Colonel, who has since disappeared. Who stood at Sgrena’s plane to Italy, to flag off the curious, with his own badge.

    Not an assassination.

    But just like JFK’s death. Wasn’t one bullet. Wasn’t what the officials told. And, “those who were stupid enough, inside, to think this was a plot that would advance them.” Most of them got killed, later. As the noose tightened around the one’s who knew too much.

    To walk back the cat? The stuff’s only good for 132 days. And, yes. Even though we’ve been told WMD’s were NEVER found in Iraq! Go figa. Saddam was up to his eyeballs wanting to use Polonium as a trigger. And, in 2000 these facts were found by the blind mice who’ve been called the “inspectors.”

    And, ya know what? Maybe, it was the Guy Upstairs? Who gave a push to the clowns to make mistakes? Because whatever was gonna come “out” of Litvinenko’s “deal” it sure looks like it went awry.

    Went “that’a’way.” In the parlance of the Wild West.

  3. mporter2006 says:

    “This article describes how Polonium-210 is an optimal choice for a dirty bomb”

    No it doesn’t! The author says it’s good for killing with a small, untraceable, internal dose – i.e. assassination. As has been widely reported, you can even get it on your skin and it won’t harm you – it has to reach the internal organs. A polonium dirty bomb would indiscriminately disperse its ingredients and might cause no harm at all.

  4. Carol_Herman says:

    Litvinenko was exposed multiple times! Did the vial put “some” alpha particles on his fingers? He ate sushi. Was he ever picking anything up with his fingertips? (I use my hands, sometimes. Not just chop sticks.) While Scaramella is considered contaminated “by a second degree.” Not ingested. But inhaled. I’d bet the vial(s), or whatever, got a lot of close inspection! And, the contents were still active. Not ending it’s half-life at all.

    Anyway, multiple handling of the “stuff,” is what got so much stuff into Litvinenko’s system. What he was handlnig was odorless. And, tasteless. It wasn’t inside an acid solution. And, he was TOLD by people dressed as scientists (probably wearing white coats), that the contents were safe. (Like condoms are safe, too. But they’ve been known to have failure rates, just the same.)

    Anyway, unlike a bullet, this didn’t take a gun. Just mishandling the merchandise. Wherever it was, it was in London for a few days. And, the stash was a “secret.” Till Litvinenko got sick. And, he got sick because the LAST EXPOSURE, when he was handling “the stuff” to the buyer, Sacramella, BOTH OF THEM got dosed.

    Well, if you were turning over a pin head for millions of dollars, you had to at least look and see that the “pin head” was in the vial.

    As to nuke suitcases, and such; it’s like watching cattoonists trying to make an actual “thing” that goes BOOM. Just as it does inside the cartoon block.

    No BOOM. And, the type of death you’ve gotten to see here; that exposes more of the cell of blackmarketeers, and less of the individual, had to come from mishandling the merchandise. Plus, the vial, or vials, themselves, were not as secure. Hello, Chernobyl.

    Also. To need this particular ingredient, already, would mean the suitcase, itself, was close to production. Why would you buy the trigger first? It’s half-life is so small. You’ve got about two months, after you say “ready, set, go.” Seems like there wouldn’t be enough time to put all the rest of this together, AFTER you got your short fuse. Or activating trigger.

    This could mean Litvenenko was exposed to more than just the triggering mechanism. He could’a been smuggling dangerous stuff, on secret missions for years. But then? You know he got desperate recently? In a financial hole. How old was that? About 4 months worth of bills he couldn’t handle?

    What did the whole thing weight? Including the vials, or whatever, for transport? Less than a stick of gum?

    And, since this is now FULL BLOWN NEWS, instead of a full blown nuke, it’s hardly likely the Italians are gonna be “going full speed ahead.” And, why not think the Italians were up to their eyeballs in this scam? After Srgena, I’d believe anything.

    Heck, that’s how they lost their #1 guy, who was accompanying Sgrena.

    What’s it gonna take, to get some of the bad guys to crawl back into their holes; or? Did this “case” just do it?

  5. crosspatch says:

    AJ, this story concerns me”.

    FBI agents in cooperation with Albanian authorities are investigating eventual smuggling of radioactive material deemed to have been planned for using in terrorist attacks across Europe.

  6. crosspatch says:

    oops, might have forgot to close an anchor there.

  7. Lizarde1 says:

    here’s more from the story: Citing sources from the Prosecution Office, the Albanian media reported there are grounds for suspicions that 170 kilograms of radioactive material was brought in the country

  8. crosspatch says:

    170 kilograms is a pretty significant number. That is, for example, the amount of highly enriched uranium that disappeared from Dounreay nuclear plant in the 1960’s. But it also appears to be some sort of standard weight used for transporting stuff.

    By the way, Albania is about 70% Muslim and 30% Christian. There were also at least three Albanians held at Guantanamo Bay that were released. I am not sure if there are any more still being held there.