British Find Radiation Traces on 3 Planes

LONDON, Nov. 29 — The case of the poisoned former K.G.B. agent took a bizarre twist when British Airways said that traces of radiation had been detected Wednesday on jets that flew between London and Moscow, establishing a possible Russian link and indicating that more than 30,000 people might have been exposed to the radiation.

The airline said tests had found “very low traces” of radioactivity so far on two of three Boeing 767s, which were singled out because the police suspected that passengers included people linked to the investigation. At least one of the planes flew between London and Moscow days before the former agent, Alexander V. Litvinenko, fell ill from the radioactive poison, polonium 210, that doctors say killed him.

The authorities did not say what substance was detected, but said the radiation posed little danger to the public.

In his last days, Mr. Litvinenko accused the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, of ordering his killing, a charge that Moscow has dismissed.

But the case, which has taken on cold war overtones, has clouded relations between Britain and Russia. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Tony Blair said his government was “determined to find out what happened” and stressed that “there is no diplomatic or political barrier in the way of that investigation.”

Willie Walsh, the chief executive of British Airways, said in a television interview that the three airplanes had made 221 flights, including trips to and from Moscow, since late October, carrying 33,000 people.

The airline said that, including more than 40 flights in both directions between London and Moscow, the planes had been used in flights between London and destinations including Athens, Frankfurt, Madrid, Istanbul, Stockholm, Düsseldorf, Germany, Barcelona, Spain, and Larnaca, Cyprus. The flights took place between Oct. 25 and Nov. 29, according to the British...

I read 2 out of 3 planes positive with the one grounded in Moscow pending.

I don't believe that just three planes were involved. It may be that some are still on overseas flight ops, AOG or awaiting maintenance and unavailable for British testing.

One London AP story listed five airliners as having been checked, some by Russian radiological monitoring units, which may be suspect.

See 12 Sites in U.K. Show Radioactive Traces

Russian radiation safety experts' minivan is parked near a grounded British Airways jetliner at Moscow's Domodedovo airport, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2006. Authorities have found traces of radiation on two British Airways jetliners in London, grounded a third plane in Moscow and asked passengers on more than 200 flights to come forward as investigators widened their search for clues in the poisoning death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko.

(AP Photo/ Mikhail Metzel )

Twelve sites? Heck, they must have been playing musical hotels and planes.

I think they still are.

‘Around 24’ sites checked out

Home Secretary John Reid told Parliament that “around 24 venues” have been or are being monitored as part of the investigation, and that experts had confirmed traces of radioactive contamination at “around 12 of these venues.” He did not say whether the radioactivity found at the sites was polonium-210.

Reid told lawmakers that officials believed the risk to public health to be low. He said 1,700 calls had been made to the National Health Service, and 69 people were referred to the Health Protection Agency.

Of those, 18 who may have been exposed to polonium-210 have been referred to specialist clinics, but all urine tests so far have been negative, he said.

Planes scoured for clues
Litvinenko also said before he died that a group of Russian contacts who met with him on Nov. 1 had traveled to London from Moscow, prompting the searches of planes.

Three British Airways planes — two at Heathrow Airport and one in Moscow — are being investigated, and Reid said that a Boeing 737, leased by the Russian airline Transaero, was also “of interest.”

Besides that, “there is one other Russian plane that we know of that we think we may be interested in,” Reid added. He did not elaborate, except to say that it is Russian.

He said early tests of two of the three British Airways planes showed low levels of a radioactive substance. The third BA plane remains on the ground in Moscow, and has not yet been tested. BA will make a decision whether to bring the plane back from Moscow, he said.

The Transaero jet arrived at Heathrow from Moscow on Thursday, and airline officials said no radioactivity was discovered aboard. “Local security did not find on Transaero planes any toxic substance,” said Irena Borodulina, a spokeswoman for Transaero.

CONTINUED

And if Sergei Shoigu [head of the Unity Party/Putin's coalition partner] still serves as Minister of Emergencies/ Russian FEMA....

Anytime you ride the Tube you visit quite a view 'sites'. Perhaps we are dealing with the radiated tracks of the original assassin who carried the Polonium and then the tracks of Litvinenko once he was affected by the Polonium. Or perhaps Litvinenko affected others once he was affected, but my understanding is that so far no one in Britain has tested positive after being exposed to contact with Litvinenko. That could however change as more is learned.

"The authorities did not say what substance was detected, but said the radiation posed little danger to the public."

Question your comment, "let the facts come out instead of rushing to judgment". If the "authorities" in this report will not discuss the origin of the poison or the facts of the investigation, what harm is there in "rushing to judgment"? I am weary of such feeble attempts to provide information and apply a salve to the unwashed masses for events of serious consequence. How many times daily do we hear the talking heads relate a presumably serious news event citing their source as a highly placed government official who requested anonymity?

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