The Litvinenko Inquiry

Part 3 | Chapters 1 to 5 | Alexander Litvinenko
Chapter 5: Scientific examination of
Alexander Litvinenko’s body
3.151 Many scientific investigations and tests have been conducted on Mr Litvinenko’s body,
and on samples taken from it. This process started before Mr Litvinenko’s death with
the array of tests that were commissioned by the treating clinicians. At the same time,
frequent observations were taken and recorded in Mr Litvinenko’s medical notes. I
have referred to some of the tests and observations above. I have also referred to
the tests conducted on samples of Mr Litvinenko’s blood and urine at AWE, which
revealed for the first time excess levels of polonium in his body.
3.152 The process of testing and investigation continued after Mr Litvinenko’s death, first
with a post mortem examination and thereafter with a series of tests on samples taken
from his body. This process has generated a considerable quantity of data, which has
been set out and analysed in a series of statements and reports written by a variety
of experts. All this material has been in evidence before me.
3.153 This scientific material has not been put into the public domain prior to these
proceedings (although some of it was used as the basis for a paper published in a
scientific journal in 2007). 188
3.154 I am aware that some commentators have suggested that there may be something
sinister about the fact that this material has not so far been presented publicly – for
example, that it may be part of a cover up orchestrated by the British government.
I would simply observe that it is normal in this jurisdiction for medical and scientific
reports and records of this type not to be made public until they have been used in
court proceedings relating to the death. In Mr Litvinenko’s case, this Inquiry is the first
substantive set of proceedings that has taken place with regard to his death. I would
not therefore have expected this material to have been published prior to my Inquiry.
I should add that my team and I have studied thousands of government documents
that relate to Mr Litvinenko’s death. They do not contain anything to suggest that
there has been deliberate concealment of relevant material. The fact that this material
has not hitherto been put into the public domain is simply a consequence of normal
procedures being followed, albeit that in this case – given its exceptional features – it
has taken longer than normal for those procedures to run their course.
3.155 Further and in any event, all this material has now been published by the Inquiry.
Anyone who wishes to refer to the detail of the scientific investigation that has taken
place may now access the underlying documents by means of the Inquiry website.
The key documents are tabulated at Appendix 8.
3.156 What I propose to do in the remainder of this section of the Report is to identify
the more important conclusions that the scientists have reached as a result of their
analysis, and to consider the evidence that I received in respect of those conclusions.
The raised levels of polonium 210 in Mr Litvinenko’s body
3.157 As I have already noted, the first tests that identified raised levels of polonium 210 in
Mr Litvinenko’s body were the tests conducted at the AWE in Aldermaston on 21 and
22 November 2006 – i.e. very shortly before Mr Litvinenko’s death. 189
188
“Polonium-210 as a poison” by Harrison et al – Journal of Radiological Protection 27, 17-40; 2007 INQ017269
189
INQ022258
45