tsunami

[CantDecide]

The deal with iodine tablets is that the body only absorbs as much iodine as it needs, and everything else passes through. So if you take a tablet of safe iodine to max out your body's supply, when you are exposed to radioactive iodine particles, your body won't need any and won't absorb them. I think iodine collects in your thyroids which are especially sensitive to cancer, so keeping radiation away from them is a good thing.

As for the reactor 4 pond being dry, the BBC article I linked to seemed to be saying that adding water to the well is a catch-22, because adding it could SPARK the nuclear chain reaction by slowing down the radiation and moderating it. With the well being dry, the radiation moves so fast it doesn't get absorbed by the rest of the nuclear fuel, so the chain reaction can't start.

[euphonius]

There was a CBS Marketwatch alert this morning saying that Japan was resuming attempts to drop water on No.4 from helicopters, though this would oblige chopper crews to fly through the cesium plume. The word kamikaze comes to mind. There will be 700 virgins in heaven for those pilots. Damn I hope they can cool those fuckers and regain control.

[jape]

Yeah, lets hope, and wish them well.

So even if iodine is blocked, the other nasties wouldn't be? Not worth a rush to the chemists then. Might steal some lead off the neighbour's roof just in case, and for old time's sake.
Lead undies don't arf chafe though.

[jape]

Yeah, lets hope, and wish them well.

So even if iodine is blocked, the other nasties wouldn't be? Not worth a rush to the chemists then. Might steal some lead off the neighbour's roof just in case, and for old time's sake.
Lead undies don't arf chafe though.Maybe better dig a deep hole.

[jape]

A bit more nonsense: I overheard a local plumber at the café telling his mate that it was god's revenge because the japanese set off the first atomic bombs in WW2!
Oh my, education in Aus is working well. I'm gonna start digging that hole tomorrow.

[CantDecide]

So even if iodine is blocked, the other nasties wouldn't be? Not worth a rush to the chemists then. Might steal some lead off the neighbour's roof just in case, and for old time's sake.

So, I am not an expert by any means, but here is what I understand: if you absorb radioactive iodine, its in your body and you can't escape it. The closer you are to radioactivity, the higher the chance of poisoning or cancers forming, so obviously, having radioactive material in you is a bad idea. The worse stuff, uranium, plutonium, etc, is of course, worse, and stronger radiation, but it just passes through you, and if you get away from it, the radiation goes away. So naturally, the farther away from the uranium, etc, you are, the better.

I think (but I'm not positive) radioactivity falls off logarithmically, so if you are 2" away from a radioactive source, its 10 times less potent than being 1" away from the source.

From reading the BBC reports and reading the wikipedia page on the "China Syndrome", the real danger is an uncontained, uncontrolled nuclear reaction happening exposed to the air. What happens then is the uranium, plutonium, etc, get superheated, and start to vaporize and drift into the atmosphere. Then you've got a huge radioactive cloud blowing around waiting for people to inhale, and the super-heated core is so dangerous no one can get near it to cover it back up again easily.

Just to be clear, a nuclear reactor can NOT turn into a nuclear explosion... its the wrong kind of reaction.

[Lao Jia Hou]

The deal with iodine tablets is that the body only absorbs as much iodine as it needs, and everything else passes through. So if you take a tablet of safe iodine to max out your body's supply, when you are exposed to radioactive iodine particles, your body won't need any and won't absorb them. I think iodine collects in your thyroids which are especially sensitive to cancer, so keeping radiation away from them is a good thing.

Starting early Thursday morning, I began receiving messages from former students pleading with me to go check the stores around me for any salt, as their family did not have enough. Very bizarre. Apparently, every store in Beijing had been sold out of salt. By Thursday evening, I heard on the news that virtually every store, throughout China, has had its salt supplies stripped from the shelves (the effect of mobile sms, I guess). Incredible.

A quick search on the internet found that it would require consuming 80 tablespoons of iodized salt to equal one iodine tablet. Hmmmm. The "cure" kills the patient?

[euphonius]

Yes, I read it would take ingestion of 1.5kg of salt -- surely a fatal dose -- to obtain one day's benefit from the iodine in the salt.

Most interesting for me is this: This massive nationwide run on salt only started AFTER the government announced that there was no point in consuming iodized salt. Hows that for faith in government!

Nonetheless, I've got about a cup of salt in my kitchen. I'm going to set up a litte stand at the streetcorner today and hold an auction. I'll be rich!

[td_ref]

Yes, I read it would take ingestion of 1.5kg of salt -- surely a fatal dose -- to obtain one day's benefit from the iodine in the salt.

Most interesting for me is this: This massive nationwide run on salt only started AFTER the government announced that there was no point in consuming iodized salt. Hows that for faith in government!

Nonetheless, I've got about a cup of salt in my kitchen. I'm going to set up a litte stand at the streetcorner today and hold an auction. I'll be rich!

i believe there must be mastermind behind, think Chinese Capitalism.

[jape]

It is Euphonius, 盐主 is his other name, Shanghai is just down the road from Yancheng ...