Posted on 03/15/2011 1:35:02 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
If you do decide to, probably the only place you might be able to still find any would be a local "compounding" pharmacy (check your yellow pages). They actually can make them for you at a reasonable price.
Bids on Ebay for 130mg, 14 tablet packs of potassium iodide tablets that used to sell for $10 a pack are over for $300 in most cases.
Some things to remember about the coverage from the chicken little media: Killer Bees, Acid Rain, Global Cooling, Three mile island, Y2K, Global Warming, runaway Toyotas, swine flu, Climate Change, bird flu...
This is a partial list feel free to add to it.
Link that explains exposure and contamination.
http://www.bt.cdc.gov/radiation/contamination.asp
And this one about sheltering in place...why?
http://www.bt.cdc.gov/radiation/shelter.asp
Precisely the problem. Two huge holes in the building. Apparently the explosions and other chaos caused them to stop monitoring the spent fuel rod tanks in #4. Now reports are that #5 and #6 pools are heating. This plant was really a dumb idea and that dumb idea was compounded by not being able to find a safe permanent storage facility for the spent fuel rods far away from any live reactors. This is the folly of man.
I’m a firm believer in Duct Tape, always keep a supply on hand.
If Japan’s nukes have any meaningful effect on the U.S., I’ll buy you a year’s supply. That much I think is a safe bet.
take care...
Good points. But one of these days, they will get a scare right. Everyone was wondering why the US media was silent during the first two nights of the nuclear catastrophe. They either go nuts, or just ignore the problem. Probably just do whatever the Emperor tells them at this point in time. That is why I get the serious news from Japan right now. You can also improve your preparedness plans by watching what the Japanese have to deal with.
I don’t know if this is the time for Godzilla jokes, or if that would be insensitive. I do note that the only way for the media to insert themselves into the story is to keep all their focus on the reactor, rather than reporting on the devastation or relief efforts. As usual, “we’re important” and “be afraid” are the real story.
The duct tape apparently is need to keep the radiated particles out, but if the Santa Ana winds are blowing around here, duct tape wont help much. Just looking to buy a little time, myself.
BTW, after reading the article and about the think tank, the Institute for Science and International Security, its mission and funders, I’ll double it to two-years supply...
:)
Maybe no Japanese civilians will die from radiation but it sure looks like some reactor personnel got high doses. High enough to kill them in a few years
“I heard Caldicott on Wednesday trump them all by insisting ‘nearly a million’ died.”
That’s peanuts compared to the trillions who have died from second-hand smoke. Yes, I realize that sounds ridiculous, but quit confusing me with the facts!
Oh please no - been through the grind already.
BTW send my blessings to reaganaut :)
I’m sure that the Japs are downplaying all this (loss of face, avoiding panic, etc.), but remember Three Mile Island and Chernobyl? They proved that the China Syndrome is a myth. The only dangers are to those in the immediate area, i.e., the rescue workers. Even the media screechers are having to admit that the radiation levels are going down.
Yes, American lives are at risk, but only because we go to help people in emergencies. Heck, even the lily-livered State Department hasn’t decamped from Tokyo.
“What we need is someone good at explaining the difference between radiation emitted by the reactor vs radioactive fallout”
We might start by explaining what “radiation” is, but do you really think it’ll stick in their heads? People can’t be convinced that flying is safer than driving, or that cell phones aren’t sending death rays into their brains. There’s not much hope for education in nuclear science. When power plants enter their consciousness, people think of Chernobyl (the horror-story Chernobyl, not the actual Chernobyl), Three Mile Island (not the actual Three Mile Island), the China Syndrome. Radioactivity brings to mind mushroom clouds, those freaky silohouettes in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, mutants, and giant ants/lizards. What can compete with that?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iodine-131
I-131 can be absorbed through contaminated food, T1/2 about 8 days
The risk of thyroid cancer in later life appears to diminish with increasing age at time of exposure. Most risk estimates are based on studies in which radiation exposures occurred in children or teenagers. When adults are exposed, it has been difficult for epidemiologists to detect a statistically significant difference in the rates of thyroid disease above that of a similar but otherwise unexposed group
I suspect that, in adults, no statistically relevant risk has been demostrated from carcinogenesis. Since uptake is usually from comtaminanted foods, most can be removed by washing
the primary source of uptake to children is generally from the milk cycle.
I-131 falling on grass, cows eat grass,
cow mammary glands concentrate I-131, excreted into milk. Kids drink milk.
Voila, I-131 into children.
an alternative is to drink no milk for about a month
(powdered ok, as well as cheese)
“You’ve forgot the 100.000 who died after Chernobyl on cancer caused by the long term radiation”
I assume your decimal point is supposed to indicate a figure of 100,000. That’s insane.
“So, so far the worst dose has been the same as eating 30 bananas.”
That doesn’t sound very good to me. Bananas are fine and all, but a few per week is enough. Plus, I’m picky, and only like ‘em when they’re really ripe. Eating them before they’ve fully matured would be a chore.
True, I would not like to be a plant worker there. Thank God they are there, but I don’t think I could do it.
“I think that chart (Energy Sources in the U.S.) includes all energy, including vehicles like cars, trucks, aircraft, etc.”
In that case, they’re overlooking all the DeLoreans running on Mr. Fusions.
“This is the folly of man”
You’ve hit on precisely why the nuclear scare aspect has overshadowed actual destruction. Natural disasters make for good stories and ratings, but they lack a certain captivation. They’ll never get the press of, say, the royal wedding. Because they are acts of God. We, being people, are interested in people.
People exist within the earthquake/tsunami story, but they can provide no more than anecdotes. Someday someone could write a novel about the hours and minutes of Joe Suzuki’s earthquake day. But without a Nero or Bush II fiddling while Japan burns, it won’t make it into the evening news as anything more affecting than your average “cat in a tree” or ‘Isn’t this cancer kid brave?” story.
The reactor story, contrariwise, has drama. Men built it, and men, as opposed to techtonic plates and waves, have tragic potential.
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