III 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 154 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 2, 2008 

Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of Congress that the fatal radiation 

poisoning of Russian dissident and writer Alexander 

Litvinenko raises significant concerns about the potential 

involvement of elements of the Russian Government in 

Mr. Litvinenko’s death and about the security and proliferation of radioactive materials. 

Whereas Russian dissident and writer Alexander Litvinenko, 

a citizen and resident of Great Britain, suddenly fell ill 

on November 1, 2006, and died three weeks later in a 

London hospital; 

Whereas British health officials concluded, following an autopsy, that Mr. Litvinenko died of radiation poisoning 

caused by ingestion of the radioactive 


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HCON 154 RFS 

element polonium-210, and British law enforcement officials have announced that they are treating Mr. 

Litvinenko’s death as a murder; 

Whereas polonium-210, according to the Health Physics Society, radiates alpha particles that cannot penetrate paper 

or human skin but, if ingested through eating, drinking, 

or breathing, are extremely toxic, with the ability to destroy cells, damage vital organs such as the liver, kidneys, and bone marrow, cause cancer, and result in 

human death; 

Whereas according to the Health Physics Society, just one 

millionth of a gram of polonium-210 can be fatal, an 

amount invisible to the naked eye; 

Whereas 97 percent of the world’s legal production of polonium-210 occurs at the Avangard nuclear facility in Russia, and Russia is the world’s leading exporter of polonium-210 for commercial purposes; 

Whereas polonium-210 is presently neither produced in nor 

commercially exported to Great Britain; 

Whereas polonium-210, being especially dangerous to public 

health and safety if improperly handled, may attract the 

attention of terrorists because it can be easily and safely 

concealed and transported and is not usually detectable 

by radiation detectors; 

Whereas this instance of poisoning by use of polonium-210 

could serve as a model for future use of the radioactive 

element to assassinate individuals, poison and kill large 

numbers of people, or spread general panic and hysteria 

amongst the public; 

Whereas Mr. Litvinenko was a former agent and official in 

the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation 


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HCON 154 RFS 

during the period when present Russian President Vladimir Putin ran that agency; 

Whereas in 1998 Mr. Litvinenko was fired from the Federal 

Security Service and subsequently arrested and briefly incarcerated without conviction for a criminal act after 

publicly accusing high-level officials of the Federal Security Service of crimes that included plotting assassination 

attempts; 

Whereas Mr. Litvinenko fled Russia and successfully sought 

asylum in Great Britain, becoming a naturalized British 

citizen in October 2006; 

Whereas Mr. Litvinenko, after arriving in Britain, repeatedly 

accused the Federal Security Service and many of its officers, including now-President Putin, of involvement in 

organized crime, assassinations, and other illegal activity; 

Whereas on November 1, 2006, before falling ill, Mr. 

Litvinenko reportedly met with three citizens of Russia, 

including former Federal Security Service agent Andrei 

Lugovoi; 

Whereas the manner in which the polonium-210 was obtained, transported, and used must be fully investigated 

and revealed in order to reveal any defects or inadequacies in the present safeguard regime for that substance 

administered by the Russian Government and in order to 

prevent the unlawful, criminal, or terrorist acquisition or 

use of polonium-210 in the future; 

Whereas the danger posed by polonium-210, as displayed by 

the discovery, subsequent to Mr. Litvinenko’s death, of 

numerous cases of its exposure to objects and persons 

who had contact with Mr. Litvinenko and his meal companions, demonstrates the threat that the proliferation 


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HCON 154 RFS 

and use of polonium-210 poses to the lives of innocents 

worldwide, as well as to international security; 

Whereas on July 15, 2006, the United States and Russia 

jointly announced the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, which ‘‘will enhance cooperation . . . to 

combat the global threat of nuclear terrorism . . . [including] determined and systematic efforts to improve accounting, control, and physical protection of nuclear material and radioactive substances, as well as security of 

nuclear facilities; [and] detect and suppress illicit trafficking or other illicit activities involving such materials, 

especially measures to prevent their acquisition and use 

by terrorists’’; 

Whereas Mr. Lugovoi has won immunity from prosecution as 

a member of the Russian Duma in December 2007 elections allegedly influenced by government electoral manipulation, which provides credence to claims that he has enjoyed official support in obtaining that office and its associated immunity; and 

Whereas the British investigation into Mr. Litvinenko’s murder continues in an atmosphere of deteriorating relations 

between the United Kingdom and the Russian Federation 

due, in part, to a lack of agreement on the further pursuit of that investigation: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that— 

3 (1) the fatal radiation poisoning of Alexander 

4 Litvinenko raises significant concerns about the po5 tential involvement of elements of the Russian GovVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:59 Apr 03, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HC154.RFS HC154

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HCON 154 RFS 

1 ernment in Mr. Litvinenko’s death, and about the 

2 security and proliferation of radioactive materials; 

3 (2) the use of such radioactive materials in 

4 such cases demonstrates a threat to the safety and 

5 security of the people of the Russian Federation, the 

6 United Kingdom, the United States, and other coun7 tries; and 

8 (3) the President of the United States and the 

9 Secretary of State should urge Russian President 

10 Vladimir Putin and other officials of the Russian 

11 Government to cooperate fully with the British Gov12 ernment in its investigation into Mr. Litvinenko’s 

13 death and to ensure the security of the production, 

14 storage, distribution, and export of polonium-210 as 

15 a material that may become dangerous to large 

16 numbers of people if utilized by terrorists. 

Passed the House of Representatives April 1, 2008. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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