From: "Robert G Lewis" 

"Adam" 
wrote in message news:456d912c{at}w3.nls.net...
> Mark wrote:
>> I've noticed a few dribs and drabs here and there (nothing concrete, nor
>> worth linking to at this point) that the dead spy may have been the one
>> smuggling the stuff out and may have had a bit of a fatal mishap in his
>> handling of it, then figured may as well play the hand out and accuse
>> Putin since he was soon to be dead anyway.
>
> WRT smuggling polonium:
>
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/11/29/polonium_available_online/
>
> As a radioactive, it's so innocuous that:
>
> "Polonium210, the radioactive isotope fingered as the substance used to
> off exiled Russian KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko, is available to buy
> online for just $69 plus shipping and handling.
>
> New Mexico firm United Nuclear Scientific Equipment & Supplies offers a
> sample of radioactive element on its website, as part of its aim of
> putting the "fun back into science"."
>
> So smuggling is a of a stretch.
>
> Still needs a great deal of knowledge wrt the dosage though.
>
> Adam

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6190144.stm

But the radioactive substance implicated is as difficult to obtain as it
can be to detect.

Polonium-210 occurs naturally in the environment and in people at low
concentrations. But acquiring enough of it to kill would require
individuals with expertise and connections.


I guess the BBC means Web connections and expertise 

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