[M]aking the "significant quantities" described in Mr. Litvinenko's body by the British Health Protection Agency would require a nuclear reactor that could bombard the element bismuth with neutrons."To most chemists, this is astonishing," said Dr. Andrea Sella, a lecturer in inorganic chemistry at London’s University College. "This is not available commercially."
"This is not the kind of weapon that any kind of amateur could construct," he added. "It would require real resources to do it."
Sunday, November 26, 2006
A nuclear reactor may have been required to kill Litvinenko
Acording to the NYTimes, 11/24, a nuclear reactor would be required to produce the amount of polonium 210 reportedly found in Alexander V. Litvinenko's (dead) body:
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But perhaps we need to know how much Polonium 210 was detected?
Of course, any such "detection" of the amount used is not direct but involves any number of inferences and supposition based on the available evidence.
I have not yet seen any reports about the precise quantity of polonium 210 estimated to have been used in the plot (if there was a plot) to kill L.
N.B. Is there any reason to think that L was willing to kill himself just to make trouble for Putin? (Would L's belief or non-belief in an afterlife have a bearing on this question?)
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