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Ex-nuclear minister denies Russian origin of polonium-210 -1

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Polonium-210, a radioactive isotope that was allegedly used to poison a Russian defector in London, could not have originated in Russia, a former nuclear minister said Monday.
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MOSCOW, November 27 (RIA Novosti) - Polonium-210, a radioactive isotope that was allegedly used to poison a Russian defector in London, could not have originated in Russia, a former nuclear minister said Monday.

Last Friday the UK Health Protection Agency reported traces of a fatal dose of Po-210 in the body of Russian ex-FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko, who died after spending three weeks in a London hospital. Western media circulated rumors that the isotope, a by-product of uranium, could have been brought to the UK from Russia.

"If you asked me whether polonium-210 could end up in private possession in Russia, I would definitely say no, it could not," said Viktor Mikhailov, the director of the Institute of Strategic Stability in Moscow.

"I also think it is barely possible that it [polonium-210] could have been taken from technical research instruments in Russia," he said, adding that all radioactive materials in the country are subject to strict state control.

According to the latest report published by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), no cases of disappearance of radioactive materials have been registered in Russia in the recent years. The global nuclear watchdog has been keeping a database on illegal trafficking of radioactive materials since 1993.

Litvinenko, a former Russian intelligence officer and a close associate of Russia's fugitive oligarch Boris Berezovsky, was reportedly poisoned in sushi restaurant Itsu on November 1. Traces of radiation were detected in the restaurant, in the Millennium hotel in central London which Litvinenko visited on the same day, and in his apartment in the north of the capital.

During an ongoing investigation, British doctors will conduct radiological tests on people who could also have been subjected to radiation in these locations.

The media circulated the deathbed note of Litvinenko, who defected in 2000 and has been known as a fierce Kremlin critic, in which he accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of orchestrating his death. He made similar accusations in an English newspaper earlier.

However, another Russian expert, academician Yevgeny Velikhov also ruled out on Monday the possibility of a Russian origin of radioactive isotopes.

"Every isotope [in Russia] is under control," Velikhov, who is the director of the Kurchatov nuclear research institute said. "It cannot be found freely on the market."

But he said polonium can be easily obtained in medical facilities in Europe.

"I know that it [polonium-210] is widely used for various purposes, particularly in the space industry," he said. "And I also know an unpleasant story - if you want to obtain a radioactive isotope, you can simply go to a hospital in Vienna and take it from a medicine cabinet."

Austria's Health Ministry immediately denied the Russian official's allegation that the toxic radioactive isotope polonium-210 can be readily obtained in Vienna clinics. A spokesperson for the ministry said that the isotope is not currently used for treatment in specialized or any other clinics in the country.

The UK Home Secretary John Reid made a special statement to the Commons on Monday related to investigation into Litvineko's death where he said there were no recent reports on theft or disappearance of polonium-210 in Great Britain.

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