Polonium
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Polonium is a chemical element; it has symbol Po and atomic number 84. A rare and highly radioactive metal with no stable isotopes, polonium is a chalcogen and chemically similar to selenium and tellu
Polonium on brass sheet
The alpha form of solid polonium
Alexander Valterovich Litvinenko was an officer of the Russian Federal Security Service and its Soviet predecessor, the Committee for State Security, until he left the service and fled the country in
Polonium
…and those are related to its radioactivity: heaters in space probes, antistatic devices, sources of neutrons and alpha particles, and poison (e.g., poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko). It is extremely dangerous to humans. 210Po is an alpha emitter that has a half-life of 138.4 days; it decays directly to its stable daughter isotope…
Grave of Alexander Litvinenko at Highgate Cemetery