Polonium-210 Available Through Mail Order 481
Knutsi writes "InformationWeek is reporting that Polonium 210, the radioactive material used to poison former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko is not as hard to get your hands on as some have previously stated. American family business United Nuclear is actually selling the stuff, and other equally exotic materials, on their company website. Could come in handy for the xmas shopping season."
Polonium and Smoking (Score:5, Interesting)
the also-radioactive Lead-210, which emits gamma rays and decays into Polonium eventually.)
Polonium-210 is an alpha emitter - something you really don't want to ingest.
I'd have to look up dose-equivalents, etc, but if I remember correctly, it was estimated a two-pack-a-day smoker gets the radioactive equivalent of something like 300 chest X-rays a year. And remember that these are heavy metals that stay in the body for a long time!
Re:I might be missing something..... (Score:2, Interesting)
Which is why you should be against gun control. The problem is that not everyone has one.
Re:I might be missing something..... (Score:5, Interesting)
Ugh. The vast majority of guns in the US have never, nor will they ever, be used for killing people. Seeing as how we have so few natural predators left, hunting is an absolutely vital element of the wildlife conservation effort in many countries. Hunting provides healthy, lean meat, untreated by growth hormones and antibiotics, it controls populations, reducing disease and famine, it provides funding for programs that preserve wildlife habitats....
Guns can be used for a lot more than shooting people.
Re:Order yours here (Score:3, Interesting)
Mercury Poisoning [wikipedia.org]
A lot less sophisticated, but just as effective. And you can even administer it externally.
As for confusing the doctors, it's obvious that a radiological material failed to do that. In fact, most hospitals have rather extensive radiological areas and procedures. So the chances of the symptoms eventually being recognized are fairly high.
If that still doesn't fit the bill, there are dozens of slow acting poisons from medieval times that would confuse the heck out of modern doctors.
Re:I might be missing something..... (Score:3, Interesting)
Note that "Maximum allowable body burden" is far from lethal. That is the amount where your employer has some explaining to do if you work at some place using polonium and that amount is found inside you; on the other hand, 0.02 microcurie would be considered fine. So eating one of those 0.1 microcurie things will be unhealthy, but I don't think it would do you permanent harm.
I was told that there are about 300 million guns around in the USA, and each one is capable of doing a lot more damage than 0.1 microcurie of polonium.
Re:Order yours here (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Feh (Score:3, Interesting)
In order to be able to produce shippable samples you need to buy a larger quantity in bulk. If a family business in the midwest can do it, so can others. Anyway, the materials they offer are low activity, esoteric and not really scary. There used to be other places where you could get this kind of stuff in considerably larger quantities.
I have not done mol biol for a very long time, but the large biotech suppliers like Boehringer, Amersham, Pharmacia and their Russian competitors used to have considerably more dangerous radioactive material with activities many 1000s (if not millions) of times higher than that. In the days when mol biol required C14 and radioactive phosphorus to get any work done they were selling radioactive phosphate (and later ATP) by the bucket to anyone willing to pay. The checks for eligibility (at least for Eastern Europe and 3rd world were done at the receiving customs including countries where customs would wave anything for 100$. Which practically meant that there were no checks at all.
Re:A Lump of Polonium 210... (Score:5, Interesting)
For simple minds, it's KGB because an exotic poison like radioactive polonium seems kind of a signature it's no ordinary killing.
For smarty people, it couldn't be a KGB operation because KGB is not so stupid to poison people with exotic stuff when they have ways to make appear it an ordinary killing.
For chess playing soviet russia folks it could be a KGB operation because KGB could use the polonium as a too obvious link to make people think they're being framed while they're behind it all.
But, the odds are 50%. So I'd not point the finger at Putin so fast.
FUD: Pity the Amateur Scientist (Score:5, Interesting)
Not enough to poison someone, almost impossible to extract, etc. Poor United Nuclear will probably be run out of business just like everyone else who helps amateur scientists.
Won't detect Po210... (Score:5, Interesting)
What you need to detect an Alpha source is a scintillation detector.
Re:Polonium and Smoking (Score:3, Interesting)
OT: why was Polinium210 used to poison Litvinenko? (Score:3, Interesting)
What I still do not understand is why anyone would want to use Polonium210 to kill somebody in the first place? There are dozens of substances available to everyone and probably thousands available to a secret service and all of these substances would be as efficient, cheaper, and less problematic for the one who applies them.
So why on earth use Polonium210?
My only explanation so far is that it is an extremely sadistic way to kill somebody: no antidote, it takes days and is extremely painful.
Re:I might be missing something..... (Score:3, Interesting)
We don't have these rules for cars. You don't need a driver's license to own a car, or even, strictly speaking, to operate one (on private roads, with the owner's permission). You only need the license and registration to use the vehicle on public, State-owned roads. The equivalent for guns would be something like a concealed-carry license requirement (i.e. a license to carry the gun in public areas), which already exists in most places and typically follows the guidelines you've specified.
Private owners can reasonably refuse to allow you to carry a gun onto their properties, and the government (presuming for the moment that their claim to ownership of "public" property is legitimate) can reasonably restrict possession and/or use of guns on public property, but nothing gives either of them a legitimate right to restrict possession or (non-aggressive) use of any sort of weapon on one's own property.
Re:Polonium and Smoking (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:A Lump of Polonium 210... (Score:3, Interesting)
Rewmember that poisoning someone is a very personal act of violence. It could be that the KGB used the Polonium to make sure that Litvinenko knew who killed him.
In vendetta killings it is always sweeter if the victim knows just who is killing them. Anonomyous "Pwned" messages don't suffice. You have gotta leave your tag. What better way to do it than by using a 138 day halflife radioactive element that is obviously made ina nuclear reactor and would cost a million dollars to buy. If that ain't a government calling card I don't know what is.