1-2 Sv (100-200 REM) Light radiation poisoning, 10% fatality after 30 days (LD 10/30). Typical symptoms include mild to moderate nausea (50% probability at 2 Sv), with occasional vomiting, beginning 3 to 6 hours after irradiation and lasting for up to one day. This is followed by a 10 to 14 day latent phase, after which light symptoms like general illness and fatigue appear (50% probability at 2 Sv). The immune system is depressed, with convalescence extended and increased risk of infection. Temporary male sterility is common. Spontaneous abortion or stillbirth will occur in pregnant women.
6-10 Sv (600-1,000 REM) Acute radiation poisoning, near 100% fatality after 14 days (LD 100/14). Survival depends on intense medical care. Bone marrow is nearly or completely destroyed, so a bone marrow transplant is required. Gastric and intestinal tissue are severely damaged. Symptoms start 15 to 30 minutes after irradiation and last for up to 2 days. Subsequently, there is a 5 to 10 day latent phase, after which the person dies of infection or internal bleeding. Recovery would take several years and probably would never be complete. Devair Alves Ferreira received a dose of approximately 7.0 Sv (700 REM) during the Goiânia accident and lived partially due to his fractionated exposure.
Devair Alves Ferreira received a dose of approximately 7.0 Sv (700 REM) during the Goiânia accident and lived partially due to his fractionated exposure.
More than 80 Sv (>8,000 REM) U.S. military forces expect immediate death.[citation needed] A worker receiving 100 Sv (10,000 REM) in an accident at Wood River, Rhode Island, USA on 24 July 1964 survived for 49 hours after exposure, and an operator receiving 120 Sv (12,000 REM) to his upper body in an accident at Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA on 30 December 1958 survived for 36 hours; details of this accident can be found on page 16 (page 30 in the PDF version) of Los Alamos' 2000 Review of Criticality Accidents
Though it remains hedged in murk and mystery, a few firm findings are emerging from the fog of conspiracy theories. They include: Polonium-210 of the quantity and purity used to kill Litvinenko is difficult to obtain, and cannot simply be ordered over the internet. The amount used, more than 100 times a lethal dose, implies it was obtained either from a reactor or in an unusually large commercial transaction that "would have raised eyebrows". Though some polonium is imported into Britain, no polonium is made here and none has been reported missing. This indicates that the isotope was smuggled into the country. Litvinenko was contaminated on November 1 and not before. Yet it is thought traces of polonium on a plane and in a London hotel date from October 25. Police have identified a trail of polonium residues at 12 sites across London, including a restaurant, two hotels, some offices and Litvinenko's home. So far only Litvinenko, his wife Marina and Mario Scaramella, an Italian who met Litvinenko on November 1, have tested positive for absorbing polonium into their bodies. Marina and Scaramella have far lower levels of contamination than Litvinenko suffered and as yet are reportedly showing no ill-effects. THE more that emerges about Litvinenko's death, the more polonium is revealed as an extraordinary weapon for assassination. Though it leaves a radiation trail, this is of usually benign "alpha" particles that do not register on normal geiger counters. The assassin or assassins may have gambled it would never be detected.
