[ RadSafe ] Polonium-210 poisoning

[Brent Rogers]

Mike

Would you consider counting automotive air filters?

<wink>

Brent Rogers
Sydney Australia
TDY Washington DC

Sent from my iPad

On 12/09/2011, at 12:24, "Brennan, Mike  (DOH)" <Mike.Brennan at DOH.WA.GOV> wrote:

> I am glad that my understanding of the situation agrees with Franz's
> opinion, as his expertise is far greater than mine (no irony implied;
> I'm just a sample grabber who reads stuff).  Processing Po-210 from
> radium sources has several non-trivial issues that need to be
> considered.  The first is that the decay product of radium is radon,
> which is a noble gas.  If the radium source is not constructed in a way
> that contains the radium, there will be little ingrowth of the isotopes
> down the chain, including Po-210.  The next issue is that if you have a
> refined radium source, presumably all the lead and bismuth and polonium
> isotopes would have been left behind with the slag.  This means the
> Pb-210 won't come into equilibrium for some time (about 140 years, using
> an old thumb rule).  On the bright side, there are radium sources that
> are that old, but getting them would be a non-trivial challenge).  
> 
> If I were insistent on concentrating Po-210 from "natural" sources, as
> opposed to going the activation route, I would look at ventilation
> filters or liquid dust traps for mines.  Obviously some mines would be
> better for this than others.  
> 
> After all that, you are left with the chemistry, which I've been told is
> trick, especially as the fine powder that results is difficult to keep
> contained (one person said that alpha recoil increases the spread of
> contamination, but I wouldn't know).  I've been told that it will crap
> up a glove box no matter how careful you are, and you will never get it
> clean (until it decays away).  
> 
> All this is easy compared to building a nuclear reactor in order to do
> activation.  On the other hand, if you already have a nuclear reactor,
> and all that neutron flux is just going to waste...
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
> [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of
> franz.schoenhofer at chello.at
> Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2011 1:21 PM
> To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing
> List; The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics)
> MailingList
> Cc: Busby, Chris
> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Polonium-210 poisoning
> 
> Absurd and lacking any insight in the topic and on reality. Po-210 is
> produced commercially as far as I know (almost) exclusively in Russian
> reactors (consult Google). They have enough to spend some to the KGB.
> What are "old radium tubes"? Since you have neither knowledge about
> radiation protection or chemistry I wonder where you got the recipe for
> separating Po-210 from radium. Radiumsources usually are not to be found
> on the streets, so where do you get them from? Being a radiochemist I
> would not work with the necessary quantities of radium to extract the
> polonium obviously used in the murder of Litvinenko.
> 
> Franz
> 
> 
> 
> ---- "Busby schrieb:
>> 
>> Yes. Interesting. Everyone blamed the Russians because it was said
> that only someone with access to a reactor could have put the poison
> together i.e. it was not a amateur job. But it is easy to separate Po210
> from old radium tubes with nitric acid and baking soda; a kitchen job,
> though you'd have to be jolly careful. I think KGB would have far more
> sophisticated ways of killing someone.
>> Chris 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: radsafe-bounces at agni.phys.iit.edu on behalf of Otto G. Raabe
>> Sent: Sat 9/10/2011 7:38 PM
>> To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing
> List
>> Subject: [ RadSafe ] Polonium-210 poisoning
>> 
>> September 10, 2011
>> 
>> At London's Millenium Hotel on November 1, 2006, Alexander 
>> Litvinenko, a Russian defector, was poisoned  with tea containing a 
>> large amount of polonium-210. He fell ill that very day and died 
>> after a long hospitalization on November 23. He told investigators 
>> that he had met with two former KGB agents early on the day he fell
> ill.
>> 
> --
> Franz Schoenhofer, PhD, MinRat
> Habicherg. 31/7
> A-1160 Vienna
> Austria
> mobile: ++43 699 1706 1227
> 
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