Jan 07 2007
US Largest Source Of Missing Polonium-210
The reality of the situation regarding Litvinenko is finally being treated with some seriousness. Litvinenko is an example of what could happen on a massive scale with materials like Po-210 (which is supposedly not controlled by the IAEA like its more infamous cousins Uranium and Plutonium). I speculated just yesterday that the Po-210 that is of such grave concern in the UK could have been originally processed in Russia, but actually obtained by the smugglers after it was exported to another country (where the Russian audit trails end). In this detailed article in the Washington Post on the Po-210 processing Russia is positive it can account for all their Po-210 produced and exported (which I would say is reasonable to assume). What is disconcerting is the location where most of the Polonium known to have been lost over the years is the US of A:
MOSCOW — Ninety-seven percent of the legal production of one of the world’s rarest industrial products — the intensely radioactive isotope polonium-210 — takes place at a closely guarded nuclear reactor near the Volga River 450 miles southeast of Moscow.
…
Specialists say that around the world, reactors capable of this operation belong either to state agencies or universities and so are highly regulated. “Everything connected with polonium production and application is controlled by governments,” said Boris Zhuikov, head of the radioisotope laboratory in the Nuclear Studies Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in an interview. “You cannot just put any target inside a reactor. It is regulated and checked by many, many people. It would be discovered.”
The Avangard plant operates under close Russian government scrutiny. Officials said four Russian organizations are licensed to handle the material made there: the chemistry faculty of Moscow State University; the Federal Nuclear Center in Samara, also on the Volga; Techsnabexport, the state-controlled uranium supplier; and one private company, Nuclon, which uses it for medical devices and transports isotopes to customers.
The controls have proved effective, Russian officials contend. “I can say with complete certainty that no deviations from the rules of storage and transportation of nuclear materials, including polonium, have been discovered at any structures of our fuel and nuclear complex,” said Konstantin Pulikovsky, head of the Federal Service for the Oversight of the Environment, Technology and Nuclear Management, according to the Russian news agency RIA-Novosti.
Worldwide, polonium has been lost or stolen in at least 15 known incidents before 2006, most of them in the United States, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog based in Vienna.
The fact Po-210 has been stolen before is news to most of us. The fact most of this missing Polonium is from the US is truly concerning. As I postulated yesterday, the idea the Polonium 210 was being smuggled out of Russia instead of into Russia or other locations for nefarious purposes. The fact Po-210 stolen from the destination country would be traced to Russia is the kind of feature one would expect in an professional illegal or terrorist operation to throw off authorities. This seems liek a much more reasonable scenario than some state sponsored effort out of Russia that totally ignores the traceability of the material back to its production source.
For those who think of the Russians as a backward, not too bright country I need to remind everyone they are the only other nation on the planet to have humans in space over the last half century. The US and Russia were the only nations who could safely travel to space and exploit it. This is not something any nation can do. And while Europeans are technically capable of this same feat, they have yet to launch their own habitable vehicle in space. Russians are technically very, very advanced. They will not make a mistake like overlooking the traceability of material like Polonium 210.
This arrogant bias can be seen in the article when quoting one of the UK’s supposed experts on nuclear material:
Priest said he believed that in Russia, audit safeguards could be circumvented if there was demand for polonium from officials with strong influence. Audits could also be an unreliable gauge of pilfering because during production, much more polonium is made than is actually needed, with the surplus never entering the officially recognized supply.
“When they do these runs, they produce a large amount because it’s got a 138-day half-life and they don’t want to be making it all the time. It’s not possible to maintain complete control by measurement at the source,” Priest said.
This is the silliest thing I have heard. If this is true, then it is true in every reactor across the planet. And it is not true. What Priest is trying to say is Russians can’t weigh things. Because that is the simplest method to track the inputs and outputs of processing. Priest is grasping, and doing an embarrassing job of it.
Despite these strange ramblings there is some interesting informatgion on Po-210 in the article:
In its pure form, polonium-210 is a soft, silvery metal. One microgram, or millionth of a gram, can be fatal, and the body of the poisoned Russian contained multiple times the lethal dose. One gram, about 0.035 of an ounce, could theoretically kill tens of millions of people.
The substance is self-heating and highly radioactive, but as long as it is housed in a sealed capsule of glass or metal, it can be safely transported in, for example, one drop of solution. It eludes radiation detectors in place at airports, border crossings and ports because it emits alpha rays, not the gamma rays the devices look for.
Polonium-210 can be dried into a substance such as chalk and turned into powder. Or it can be mixed with an aerosol solution, allowing it to be sprayed. But many scientists believe the probable method of transporting and dispensing it in the London killing was putting the isotope in a solution that could be tipped at arm’s length into a drink or onto food.
Despite what scientists are saying, the material would seem to be in a chalk or powder form. I cannot help but note the final acknowledgement that dealing with drops and fractions of a grain of salt is impossible for transport and poisoning. People can only handle certain minimal volumes with confidence. And there is no need for three consignments for a few drops of poisoned liquid. So these scientists are in fact making the case that this is not an assassination effort but something worse – which the article does address
Other theories suggest that the polonium that killed Litvinenko might have been obtained from an officially tracked commercial supply after it reached its final customer.
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The substance’s great giveaway is that once discovered, its telltale traces are easily tracked. Out of its box, polonium smears everything. After Litvinenko’s death, it was discovered in planes, cars, hotels and offices — all places that the victim and people he met had visited around the time of the poisoning.
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The former agent’s death has caused anti-terrorism officials to worry that an explosive or airborne dispersal of polonium, particularly in a crowded, enclosed space, could cause numerous fatalities and sow widespread panic, scientists said. Compromise a food or water supply, they said, and the consequences could be even more dire.
“You need a lot of the material,” Zimmerman said. “But not more than it is reasonable to think could be diverted from the commercial stream.”
The International Atomic Energy Agency is considering tighter controls on polonium.
An IAEA diplomat, who was not authorized to speak for quotation, said that in the wake of the Litvinenko case, concerns have risen at the agency about a mass poisoning through the introduction of polonium into the food chain or drinking water.
We still don’t know the path and amounts of Po-210 which were traversing London in Oct. We now know Litvinenko was exposed mulitple times. And of note should be his travels now. We should all remember the Chechens honored Litvinenko with top praise as a martyr to their Islamist cause. That is not an honor an Islamo Fascist organization would bestow on a Westerner (who had not yet converted to Islam supposedly – at time his death was announced) unless they had done something extraordinary.
We know Litvinenko traveled to Isreal during this time. And Litvinenko was in contact with Yury Shvets, who resides in Virginia here in the US. Was the contact face to face during this period?
Seems to me that if you posit that Israel was the intended target, you also have to assume that Berezovsky was not a part of the plot. He is Jewish and became an Israeli citizen in the early ’90s. Not impossible, but in my opinion much less likely than keeping Berezovsky in the driver’s seat.
It could be that Litvinenko had a cooperative contact in Israel, or was passing a message on for Berezovsky.
All Jews can become Isreali citizens. That does not mean the person has any deep concerns for Israel (note the assassinations by Israelis of Israeli leaders). Boris could care less. But what I was pointing to was possibly sources of Po-210. There is a stronger case the Po-210 was going back into Russia in order to place Putin’s finger prints on any Po-210 based attacks than there is for material to be coming out of Russia to attack the West. The entire point of the post is to note Russia has all the material accounted for until it reaches its destination overseas. And there are bunch of Jews in Russia who would like to see Putin fall. They have little love of their former homeland where they were prosecuted. Germany was not the only site of the Holocaust.
AJStrata,
“What Priest is trying to say is Russians can’t weigh things. Because that is the simplest method to track the inputs and outputs of processing. Priest is grasping, and doing an embarrassing job of it.”
No, AJ, instead of trying to interpret or divine “what Preist is trying to say,” read what the “Washington Post” reporter states Preist said, which is:
“Priest said he believed that in Russia, audit safeguards could be circumvented if there was demand for polonium from officials with strong influence. Audits could also be an unreliable gauge of pilfering…”
— Not that officials CAN’T weigh things, AJ, but perhaps they DON’T.
That is a big difference.
Priest also said: “much more polonium is made than is actually needed, with the surplus never entering the officially recognized supply.”
In spite of your repeated denials that this could happen, for now at least, I am willing to accept to Priest’s speculation as a recognized expert over yours in this matter, AJ.
So, what I consider your own “grasping” and casting about in this post still does not account for
— why Kovtun was up to his eyeballs in polonium-210 in Hamburg directly from Moscow, and
— why polonium-210 found its way wherever Lugovoi traveled in London.
Patience, AJ. I think much will be revealed in time — and I don’t think that will be too long, now — though I still predict there will be no justice here.
Just like Cleo Noel’s murder — although Noel wasn’t considered a “dirty, traitorous, toenail-puller,” who ‘deserved what was coming to him’ — just another American who deserved it.
I think the point is that Russian scientists and facilities might possibly be more likely to be corrupt allowing material to get into the hands of organized crime for profit, not that the Russians are stupid.
“Priest said he believed that in Russia, audit safeguards could be circumvented if there was demand for polonium from officials with strong influence. Audits could also be an unreliable gauge of pilfering because during production, much more polonium is made than is actually needed, with the surplus never entering the officially recognized supply.”
“Believed,” “could be”? All innuendo, no facts. Meanwhile, one important component of US informational warfare against Russia has been to create among its populace the impression that in Russia nuclear materials are peddled on Moscow streets by mean Siberian bears with battle balalaikas and the blood-stained KGB agents in black leather coats with Kalashnikovs. The good thing about AJ’s comment is that he resists buying this line, the bad is that instead he invents Russian genocide of Jews. I wonder what how the Jews in Auschwitz would have commented on this proposition some time in 1944, listening to the approaching roar of Soviet artillery.
Another problem is that polonium production in places such as Iran and Pakistan are not addressed. We have no idea of the amount of polonium being produced there or where any of it might be going. It is as if people are intentionally ignoring several major sources of polonium as if only the US and Russia are the only places it could be made. We also detected polonium production in North Korea and China is known to produce it for spacecraft power systems.
Israel was not the “intended” target. That target was the US President. Cooked up in Riyahd. By the HOUSE OF SAUD. With many, many “happy campers” playing alongside.
Your best clue? Turki took a toodle. Who’s he? He’s the replacement prince from the HOUSE OF SAUD that took over the Ambassadorship when Bandar was told to “pack it in.”
Turki was deep into espionage.
And, is just another thread in the threat that unravelled.
Now, you could ask, how the “containment” managed to poison the smuggling ring. Because “how” this crap was carried about remains unknown to this day. And, a few of these players are now in putin’s hand. (About to expire? Well, a lot of people who were “in” on the Kennedy plot got to be “expired.” Without the media even picking up the smell.)
And, Gerald Ford was on the Warren Commission. Giving you an idea that the “insiders” could play loose and fast. And, the media follows up with its truck of propaganda.
Litvinenko? Boy, did the russian fellas ALL have a problem! It soon became obvious Putin was gunning for Litvinenko. And, he just kept getting sicker and sicker. You’d think it would have pushed the truth out. But you haven’t heard a thing. Only what the PR guy Goldfarb cooked up while nobody actually saw Litvinenko while he was hospitalized.
NOT that this doesn’t mean there weren’t a bevy of spooks, dressed as doctors, nurses and orderlies; pushing around within the confines of the hospital.
So, there’s a good possibility that towards the end Litvinenko was no longer under the control of the smuggling ring. And, it’s anybody’s guess whom he really fingered. Let alone how many people then got to glow in the dark, so to speak. Because there was mishandling of “shipments.”
Now. If I were in charge of fiction, of course. I’d place the Mossad into this tale, where somehow things began to unravel.
By the time Turki is forced out of DC, you can be sure our Secret Service (and the CIA), were well aware of the mischief.
But. We. Will. Never. Know.
Do you know why? No dead president, means no commission. And, no commission means there’s nothing to investigate.
And, all you can use is your imaginations. Good luck.
Oh, another addition. The head guy at Los Alamos just got replaced.
As to space, AJ. I think the chinese just attempted to throw a few astronauts up in the air. Or was that faked?
While “being ahead in space,” is like being an “A” student at haarvard. While the President doesn’t seem to go there to hire these geniuses. And, what we know of the elites really does leave a lot to be desired.
As to Iran. IF we’re moving along “to do something,” which I don’t know is true. Then there’s more information UNDER THE TABLE, of which we know NOTHING AT ALL.
Again? Turki was forced to leave DC. In a hurry. WHY?
And, if you were President Bush. AND, you “knew why,” what do you think the HOUSE OF SAUD is thinking? Because “when you don’t kill the king,” what happens next?
Meanwhile, there’s enough Red Herrings out there, beyond what Alfred Hitchkock thought would be necessary; when he started plots rolling with MacGuffin’s.
“Oh, another addition. The head guy at Los Alamos just got replaced.”
Yeah, well, one of his employees had her home raided in a drug bust and they found top secret documents concerning nuclear matters in her home. I would say that was grounds to be shown the door. If your employees are selling nuclear secrets to feed their drug habits, you have one very lax organization ineed.
Los Alamos is THE place to get secret documents I guess – that place can’t keep anything tied down
Don’t know where to put this but according to the Mirror UK it’s all wrapped up: Lugovoy and Kovton did it:
BRITISH detectives are certain they know who murdered former Soviet spy Alexander Litvinenko with radioactive poison.
But they say authorities in Russia are unlikely to send his two killers here to face trial.
Both were interviewed before Christmas by officers sent to Moscow.
They admit meeting Litvinenko in London, where he was slipped a powerful dose of polonium 210 in early November, but deny involvement.
Police will submit a file to the Crown Prosecution Service naming the two
.http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_headline=we-know-kgb-spy-poisoner-&method=full&objectid=18415691&siteid=94762-name_page.html
And then the Sun has this This is just more fuel to fire of the Putin did it crowd:
A BRITISH-based Russian diplomat who died two days before Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned was ALSO nuked with radiation, it has been claimed.
Igor Ponomarev, 41, collapsed at home after a night at the opera.
His death came hours before he was due to meet former KGB agent Litvinenko’s Italian contact Mario Scaramella.
Russian authorities said Ponomarev had a heart attack at his London home. But a friend revealed he had been “gasping for water†— a symptom of radiation poisoning.
he’s still alive and talking:
Russian NY celebration drags on:
“Call me after the 15th,” Andrei Lugovoi, a businessman and former KGB agent at the center of the investigation into the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in London, said when reached on Friday and asked about the status of the case. “We expect nothing to happen until after the 15th.”
http://www.startribune.com/722/story/921364.html
Interesting, Lizarde, I wonder if this is a new player.
Los Alamos is run by professors! “Tied down?” Hardly likely those folks can find their glasses, when they shove their glasses up to the tops of their heads.
As to “someone selling secrets for dope,” I’m not so sure I “buy” the media version. But who knows?
Which brings ya back to the firing at this time; just as Bush seems to have information way beyond the average reader of newspapers.
And, since it’s gonna be action, ahead, we hardly know what he knows.
But, fer shur.
The media hasn’t gotten the story straight. Nor does it want to.
Including into this that the HOUSE OF SAUD supports not only politicians who pass through the revolving door, to “private enterprise,” the HOUSE OF SAUD supports media outlets. Otherwise, it’s hardly likely that you can explain the twists and bends of the BBC. Or CNN. Or any of the others. Even after you discount gross stupidity, where you “pick” journalism; because science and math eludes you.
Again, Occam’s Razor always credits greed and stupidity.
Ignorance also follows. So up at the food chain of Los Alamos, what seems to have “hit the fan” is that the “incident” with the dope-fiend scientist, occurred some 8 months before the “boss” got wind of it.
If that’s how the show functions. That the boss is the last to know; you’re not dealing with “trickle down” authority at all. Just some pretty weird resumes that get you at the top. Where more talented people stay stuck, below.
All I know for sure is that Litvinenko was part of a bigger operation. It involves the Brit’s, germany, italy, perhaps turkey, and the russians.
Lots of money changed hands. So anyone datamining bank activities would see some of the transactions showing up. Very few people, these days, deal in actual cash, I’d gather. Given how heavy it would be to carry a suitcase full of millions of dollars. Not that we didn’t find Haniyeh pulling this one off.
But the Mideast is a very strange place.
They’re loaded for bear, when it comes to money. And, then? Everything they need is supplied and bought for cash.
Still say the “funny stuff” is not apparent to most of us. And, that Bush seems to be “cleaning house” better than pelosi. When it comes to how fast he discards the bad guys. Bernie Korek ended up to be one of many.
And, some people? Some were actually bright. I think Paul O’Neill, for instance, was super-bright. But he misunderestimated Bush. And, he read him, wrong, as well. (Getting plans about Iraq ten days after being sworn in, in 2000, doesn’t prove anything one way or the other.) Having an interest in someone doesn’t make that person your bride, ya know?
And, Bush doesn’t play along with people who aren’t playing along the way he wants them to play. Which is a pretty good indicator that he’s a heck of a lot better in the presidency than Clinton (or even his dad), ever was!
Yeah. I fell off the bandwagon when I saw James Baker. Who knew you could dress James Baker up and make him into a Trojan Horse?
Up ahead? Won’t move fast. But it will move. The way lava flows. Once it exits the mountain top.
You know what would be interesting?
If Scaramella got his hands on some of the American polonium, through Italian scientists.
Would fit right in with what I suspect. Scaramella somehow made contact with the gang. The Italians always seem to have “spare change” that involves them with terrorists. (Heck, even the top guy, now dead. Who became deceased in Sgrena’s race to the airport. After dropping off millions for a non-necessary rescue.) Bush knows the name of the American colonel, who used to be in Iraq. Who was there to badge-wave the “get-away” car on board the Italian aircraft. You almost wonder how long that colonel stuck around? And, where is his carreer, now? Was he “bounced” into a parachute and dropped on the CIA? What’s curious, is that our media never did find out his name.
It’s the funny stuff that grabs my attention. And, the only person I’d like to see guess some of this stuff out is: Judith Miller.
Scaramella shows up at the right time for the “collection” of this material to be done. And? Litvinenko saw him as an outside. And, I’d bet, at first suspected that Scaramella poisoned him. But he didn’t know HOW!
The “how” is the genie that keeps escaping from the bottle.