Cold War Part 2, showeth your teeth.

Why can't Russia just learn to accept the cold war is over...

LONDON, England (CNN) -- A further person -- reportedly an Italian academic who met Russian former spy Alexander Litvinenko on the day he was allegedly fatally poisoned -- has tested positive for radiation, officials said on Friday.

As a post mortem examination started on the body of Litvinenko, it was revealed Mario Scaramella had tested positive for a significant quantity of the deadly radioactive toxin polonium 210, sources told the Press Association.

He is the first person to test positive since Litvinenko's death last month sparked a radiation alert.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) confirmed to CNN that a second person had tested positive for radiation, but did not disclose that person's identity.

The HPA said the risk to the general public of having been exposed to this substance remained low.

Meanwhile the examination on Litvinenko's body was being carried out in London with special precautions being taken because of the nature of his death.

Three pathologists were attending the autopsy at the Royal London hospital, CNN's European Political Editor Robin Oakley said.

One pathologist represented the UK government, another was attending for Litvinenko's wife, Marina, and the third was an independent specialist who would report to the defense team in case of a criminal prosecution in the case. (Watch how autopsy results might be used in court) Video

The scientists wore protective clothing and radiation levels were being monitored constantly during the examination.

Health experts said Litvinenko had ingested a significant amount of polonium-210, the isotope that killed him over a three-week period.

The funeral of the 43-year-old former KGB agent would be held soon after the autopsy, his friend Alex Goldfarb said.

Also on Friday, Britain's Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett met her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Amman, Jordan, and repeated the British government's request for co-operation from the Russian authorities in the investigation of Litvinenko's death.

In a deathbed accusation, Litvinenko blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for his poisoning, a charge Putin strongly denied.

Lavrov restated earlier assurances that Moscow would cooperate fully, Prime Minister Tony Blair's official spokesman said.

The investigation into the poisoning of Litvinenko had focused increasingly on Moscow after a radiation alert on several aircraft that flew to the Russian capital.

EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso voiced concern about the case. "We have a problem with Russia. In fact, we have several problems. Too many people have been killed and we don't know who killed them," he said on Thursday.

Friends of the former spy said the discovery of radioactivity on British Airways planes reinforced further claims that Russia's security agents were behind the poisoning.

One of those planes, which was grounded at Moscow, was due to fly into London's Heathrow Airport Friday for tests.

British media reports said Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell had taken advice from the Health Protection Agency after learning she travelled on one of the jets at the center of the investigation.

Jowell took a British Airways flight with British Olympics chief Sebastian Coe to Barcelona this month on an Olympics fact-finding visit to the Spanish city.
Gaidar probe

The Litvinenko investigation had gathered pace in London Thursday.

The inquest into his death was opened and adjourned at St. Pancras Coroner's Court in north London where Andrew Reid confirmed it appeared as though he had been exposed to, or administered polonium-210.

Home Secretary John Reid revealed that the number of contaminated sites had doubled from six to 12 and was likely to rise again.

The FBI said it had been asked to join the British investigation and that its experts in weapons of mass destruction will assist with some of the scientific analysis.

Meanwhile Irish police announced they were launching an investigation in to the possible poisoning of Yegor Gaidar, architect of Russia's market reforms. (Full story)

Gaidar, 50, became violently ill at a conference in Ireland and was rushed to a hospital there, but was said to be improving in a Moscow hospital.

Another attendee at the conference said Friday that Gaidar was ill before he arrived in Ireland. (Full story)

British Airways has said that "the risk to public health is low," but it has published a list of the flights affected on its Web site and told customers on these flights to contact a special help-line set up by the Health Ministry. (Flight list)

On Friday the airlines said on its Web site that one of the three BA 767s removed from service following the discovery of low traces of a radioactive substance has been given the all clear by UK government agencies.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) told BA it does not believe that overall passengers on this aircraft -- registration G-BZHA -- were at risk over the past month. This aircraft had flown 72 of the 221 flights identified.

BA said an estimated 33,000 passengers and 3,000 staff were involved in the alert relating to their aircraft, involving the 221 flights to 10 destinations from October 25 to November 29. The airline said it was continuing to make every effort to contact those involved. (Watch how worried you should be about polonium poisoning) Video

The head of Russia's state atomic energy agency Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, told the government daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta that Russia produces only 8 grams of Polonium 210 a month and the material cannot be obtained illegally there.

Kiriyenko declined to say how polonium was produced but said nuclear reactors such as the Russian RMBK or the Canadian CANDU were needed to make it.

Reid said there are between 130 and 150 sites in the United Kingdom where Polonium 210 might be used, but there were no reports of theft from any of the sites.

The UK Health Protection Agency (HPA) has said the health risk to tens of thousands of air passengers caught up in the radiation alert is likely to be extremely low.

Chief executive Pat Troop said that as alpha radiation cannot pass through skin or even paper, the risk of contamination is "likely to be low."