Re JRL #60 Edward Jay Epstein’s, The Specter That Haunts the Death of Litvinenko.

Who ya gonna’ believe?

One critical measure of the reliability of a report is the author’s competence in that field. From his article: “Russia's nuclear authority claims that the sole reactor that had been manufacturing its polonium-210 had been shut down in 2004, and the small quantity exported to America in 2005 and 2006 ­ approximately 3 ounces each year ­ came out of its stockpile…

The polonium-210 found in London could also have come from stockpiles in many countries, including America.”

Mr. Epstein seems to be unaware of the most elementary fact about Polonium-210, namely it’s short half-life, and the consequent impossibility to ‘stockpile’ this material anywhere. With a half-life of 138 days, any ‘stockpile’ of material manufactured before 2004, and used at the end of 2006, would have a potency of something less than 0.5% of newly produced material. There are no ‘stockpiles’.

Further, he seems unaware of the finding of the exceedingly radioactive teapot in the Pine Bar.

Finally, by stating without comment that “The Russian investigators also wanted to know why Litvinenko was not given the correct antidote in the hospital and why the radiation had not been correctly diagnosed for more than three weeks” the clear implication is some sort of coverup or incompetence by the British. Nothing of the sort. No one in the west was familiar with this murderous technique (though it seems probable to me, now, that it was used before, but never detected). That the British discovered this at all was quite impressive, and evidently something the killers did not expect.

By using the phrasing “Litvinenko's day of reckoning came on November 1, 2006”, Mr. Epstein is implying some sort of deserved fate. This sort of tendentious verbiage cannot be used in any report pretending to impartial veracity.

Mr. Epstein may not be in the direct pay of the Russian government, but his piece has that most unfortunate odor.