Research
Ministry of Interior Weekly Press Conference Thursday, November 30, 2006
By Brig. Gen. Abdul Kareem Khalaf Al-Kenani
Ministry of Interior spokesman
Press conference synopsis:
1. Media, especially satellite news channels, must adhere to
responsible practices:
a. MOI is monitoring coverage, and will insist on corrections to
false reports.
b. Unnamed sources should not be used. Two recently named sources
do not work for MOI. Contact MOI PAO for official information.
c. Rumors are rampant, and media should be careful to check with
official sources about information to avoid spreading false rumors.
2. MOI succeeded in a number of operations against terrorists in
Baghdad.
a. The Baghdad Sniper was apprehended, and information gained from
him led to the arrest of 30 others in his organization.
b. Two unauthorized "courts" that had issued death fatwas were
broken up.
c. A kidnapping cell, including one that raped a young girl, was
arrested.
Statement:
How would one get hold of polonium-210?
With difficulty, unless you had access to a nuclear facility or were an authorized user, such as those who use it to generate thermoelectric power. (Polonium-210, half life 138 days, releases a lot of heat energy and a gram of the element can reach a temperature of 500 Celsius, which is why it has been used as an energy source in space). Around 100 grams a year of polonium-210 are manufactured in nuclear reactors, and this is done by bombarding bismuth with neutrons.
How much constitutes a fatal dose?
The maximum safe body burden of polonium is only 7 picograms. Polonium occurs naturally in the environment due to radioactive decay of radon, and we all have traces of polonium in us. Polonium-210 is regarded as one of the most dangerous substances known because it ejects alpha–particles, which are helium nuclei, and these wreak havoc with every organ of the body in which the polonium resides. (Inside a living cell they can trigger cancer if they damage DNA.)
In theory, a mere microgram of polonium-210, which is no larger than a spec of dust, would deliver a fatal dose of radiation. Polonium is only slowly excreted – it has a biological half life of around a month – and this ensures its alpha-particles continue to wreak havoc.
How would polonium-210 be used to kill someone?
Clearly it has to be added to the food or drink of the intended victim but that does not present a problem because so little is needed. There are soluble compounds of polonium and the easiest way to deliver a fatal dose would be in a cup of tea, as has been suggested.
What would poisoners have to watch out for?
Because alpha-particles are easily stopped by nothing more substantial than a sheet of paper, handling a polonium compound does not present a serious risk to a secret agent. No doubt such a person would have some method of concealing the poison (James Bond style) before using it.
I hear it could kill victims a bit too quickly if you get it all wrong
This appears to have been what happened to Litvinenko, and there may be those who know how to link the dose of polonium-210 to deliver a particular outcome, but they used too much, perhaps a milligram or more. Forensic analysis might eventually reveal how much polonium-210 there was in his body. From the day he was poisoned, Litvinenko would begin to excrete polonium which might explain its presence at various locations.
Has anybody else been poisoned in this way in the past?
Not deliberately to my knowledge. Ironically, Irène Joliot-Curie, the daughter of Marie Curie who first isolated polonium, died because of it but her exposure was accidental. It happened when a sealed capsule of polonium exploded in her laboratory bench many years earlier. It was this which finally led to her death from leukemia in 1956 although the accident had occurred a decade earlier.
How was it tested for, why did it take this long to figure it out, and how could it have been confused with thallium?
It appears that the doctors at University College Hospital first assumed that Litvinenko had been poisoned with thallium because all his hair fell out and that is the tell-tale symptom of poisoning by this metal and occurs after about 10 days. However, analysis showed there were only trace amount of thallium in his blood so it was then assumed he’d been poisoned with thallium-201 a radioactive form with a half life of 3 days. He was radioactive, and eventually it was deduced that he had been poisoned with polonium-210, which can be identified from the radiation it emits. Hair loss is also a symptom of exposure to high levels of radiation.
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A record 7 million people _ or one in every 32
American adults _ were behind bars, on probation or on parole by
the end of last year, according to the
Justice Department. Of those, 2.2 million were in prison
or jail, an increase of 2.7 percent over the previous year,
according to a report released Wednesday.
More than 4.1 million people were on probation and 784,208 were on parole at the end of 2005. Prison releases are increasing, but admissions are increasing more.
Men still far outnumber women in prisons and jails, but the female population is growing faster. Over the past year, the female population in state or federal prison increased 2.6 percent while the number of male inmates rose 1.9 percent. By year's end, 7 percent of all inmates were women. The gender figures do not include inmates in local jails. "Today's figures fail to capture incarceration's impact on the thousands of children left behind by mothers in prison," Marc Mauer, the executive director of the Sentencing Project, a Washington-based group supporting criminal justice reform, said in a statement. "Misguided policies that create harsher sentences for nonviolent drug offenses are disproportionately responsible for the increasing rates of women in prisons and jails." From 1995 to 2003, inmates in federal prison for drug offenses have accounted for 49 percent of total prison population growth. The numbers are from the annual report from the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics. The report breaks down inmate populations for state and federal prisons and local jails. Racial disparities among prisoners persist. In the 25-29 age group, 8.1 percent of black men _ about one in 13 _ are incarcerated, compared with 2.6 percent of Hispanic men and 1.1 percent of white men. And it's not much different among women. By the end of 2005, black women were more than twice as likely as Hispanics and over three times as likely as white women to be in prison. Certain states saw more significant changes in prison population. In South Dakota, the number of inmates increased 11 percent over the past year, more than any other state. Montana and Kentucky were next in line with increases of 10.4 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively. Georgia had the biggest decrease, losing 4.6 percent, followed by Maryland with a 2.4 percent decrease and Louisiana with a 2.3 percent drop. |
Polonium 210
Atomic Number 84
Atomic Weight 210
A metalloid series element, similar to plutonium in most respects. A silvery metallic material, it is an alpha-radiation emitter (alpha radiation is the weakest of the three basic types -alpha, beta, and gamma- and can be stopped by a single sheet of typing paper). There are several isotopes, with half-lives ranging from a high of 103 years (Po 208) to a low of 2.5 hours (Po 211). Po 210, the most common in raw ore, has a half life of 138.376 days.
Polonium 210, originally known as Radium 2, was discovered by Madame Curie' in the early 20th Century. (It is named for the nation of Poland.) It occurs naturally in the same ores (pitchblende and horsmatite) which yield radium and uranium, and is usually found in much smaller quantities than either of the other two. It is easily soluble in dilute acids, and only slightly soluble in alkaline solutions. In dust form, it becomes airborne about as easily as plutonium. And like plutonium, it is highly toxic, especially if inhaled or ingested.
The simplest way to administer it, believe it or not, would be in citrus juice, like orange juice or lemon juice. The citric acid in either one would be enough to dissolve it.
Spy 'Poisoned By Radiation'
A large quantity of radiation, probably from a substance called Polonium 210, has been found in the body of dead ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko.
The "major dose" of alpha radiation was detected in his urine, said Government experts, who added that Polonium 210 is only dangerous if ingested.They
also revealed that police have found radiation in a central London sushi bar where Mr Litvinenko ate shortly before falling ill.Dr
Pat Troop, head of the Health Protection Agency, said the death was an "unprecedented event in the UK" and he had "apparently been poisoned by a type of radiation".
The development came as Home Secretary John Reid revealed the police were searching for residual radioactive material at a number of locations.Sites include Mr Litvinenko's house in north London and reportedly the sushi restaurant in the capital where he met an Italian contact shortly before he fell seriously ill.
Police in the UK are trying to find out who and what killed the 43-year-old former secagent.Before he died in a London hospital on Thursday night, Mr Litvinenko wrote a statement on Tuesday blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin for ordering his murder
He accused the leader of having "no respect for life, liberty or any civilised value".
He told Mr Putin: "You have shown yourself to be unworthy of your office, to be unworthy of the trust of civilised men and women."
The Russian President said the death was a tragedy, but he had not seen any definitive proof that it was a "violent death". He also brushed off suggestions linking him to the case.
Mr Litvinenko's tearful father Walter said: "This (Russian) regime is a mortal danger to the world", adding "It was an excruciating death."
Mr Litvinenko's supporters said he was killed because he was investigating the murder last month of journalist and fellow Putin critic Anna Politkovskaya.
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