Radu was, according to

Ion Mihai Pacepa Ion Mihai Pacepa (; 28 October 1928 – 14 February 2021) was a Romanian two-star general in the Securitate, the secret police of the Socialist Republic of Romania, who defected to the United States in July 1978 following President Jimmy Carter' ...

, a

radiological weapon Radiological warfare is any form of warfare involving deliberate radiation poisoning or contamination of an area with radiological sources. Radiological weapons are normally classified as weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), although radiologica ...

used against dissenters and critics by

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He ...

Securitate The Securitate (, Romanian for ''security'') was the popular term for the Departamentul Securității Statului (Department of State Security), the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. Previously, before the communist regime ...

. "Radu" is a Romanian name and in this context it is a reference to " radiation". The supposed weapon was intended to lead to

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

which would result in death within months after the exposure. According to Pacepa, it was created by the Securitate's "Service K" in spring 1970, using radioactive materials it received from the

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

. The Romanian "Service K", founded in 1950s by the Soviets using the KGB model, was in charge of the dirty work against jailed prisoners who they considered dangerous to the regime. This included monitoring them with microphones and trying to frame them by inducing them into making incriminating statements. The same Pacepa claimed the service was also in charge of killing those prisoners and making it appear like a suicide or natural death. Historian

Mihai Pelin Mihai Pelin (25 August 1940 – 14 December 2007) was a Romanian writer and historian who was known for researching Italy's role during World War II and the history of the Romanian secret services (especially of the Securitate). Biography Miha ...

claimed in a book on

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

, ''Melița și Eterul'', that there was no such weapon, but others, such as RFE journalist Nestor Ratesh, argue that Pelin also claimed the Securitate was not involved in the 1981 RFE bombing, a position that was allegedly contradicted by Romanian president

Ion Iliescu Ion Iliescu (; born 3 March 1930) is a Romanian politician and engineer who served as President of Romania from 1989 until 1996 and from 2000 until 2004. Between 1996 and 2000 and also from 2004 to 2008, the year in which he retired, Iliescu ...

."Ținte perpetue"
, in ''

Jurnalul Național ''Jurnalul Național'' is a Romanian newspaper, part of the INTACT Media Group led by Dan Voiculescu, which also includes the popular television station Antena 1. The newspaper was launched in 1993. Its headquarters is in Bucharest Buchare ...

'', February 2, 2004

References

{{reflist Socialist Republic of Romania Nuclear terrorism Weapons of Romania Radiological weapons Romanian inventions