The potassium iodide tablets cram as much iodine into your thyroid as possible, so that radioactive Iodine 131 (produced when uranium & plutonium atoms spilt & happens in a bomb or nuclear power plant during everyday operation) can’t be absorbed by your thyroid. Thyroids absorb iodine like a sponge. If it’s stuffed with potassium iodide, there’s no room left for the iodine 131!
Radioactive iodine (sometimes called RAI or iodine 131) is very useful in treating thyroid cancers or hyperthyroidism, as a large single dose can destroy the thyroid.
But, remember, you should only take potassium iodide (KI) tablets how & when you’re instructed by a medical professional or emergency response team. It isn’t recommended for everyone, I think the CDC in the US only recommend it for people under 40 & women who are breastfeeding, and some people who are sensitive to iodine may become seriously ill. And ingestion must be within 24hrs of the nuclear event.
Also, supplements which claim to be KI from sources that aren’t reputable may contain other things that, like any medication bought without being regulated, could do more harm than good.
Another thing (whilst I’m having a bit of a Friday night waffle 😂) is that KI tablets only protect your thyroid from Iodine 131, they do not protect you from other radioactive isotopes that would be created in a nuclear or thermonuclear explosion. It’s definitely not a case of ‘pop your KI pill & you’re invulnerable to radioactive fallout’. When atoms are split, there’s a whole host of nasties produced.
Atoms don’t split into equal halves when hit by a neutron, think of it more like a nuclear minestrone made up of many different radioactive ingredients as their plutonium atoms have been ‘chopped’ into different sized chunks. Some have half lives (the time it takes for an isotope to decay by half) that are very energetic & decay within seconds, I-131 has a half life of 7 days, other elements like caesium-137 have a half life of about 30 years.
So your iodide pill isn’t a universal panacea to become invincible if it all goes Pete Tong.
I’m not a nuclear physicist (I’ve just had an interest in atomic ephemera, the Cold War & nuclear science since I studied it in A level Physics when dinosaurs still roamed the earth). I’ve read many papers & books about the effect of a nuclear attack on a population (Like the UK’s Operation Square Leg in the 80s as an example) and… I just hope I’d be directly under the bugger if it ever happens.
I’m not frightened; this might just be because I’m getting older & more sanguine, I’m just very sad that we seem to be at this point in history. The world is a beautiful place, I hope those in power step back from the brink.
Even if small battlefield nukes are used, there is a chance we could pause & not escalate to an all out attack across many nations. Just a ‘small’ sub 100 kiloton device would be devastating. Radioactive fallout has no regard for borders on a map, and Putin would put his own people in danger. I think he doesn’t see his own population as people, more pawns on a chess game he’s currently losing. He’s is utterly mad.
I pray those close to him will take him out. That’s an awful thing to think, but I’m convinced Putin is a psychopath with no empathy for anyone, with a sole focus on his own glory. Crap analogy, but right now he’s like a trapped rat, being pinned further & further into a corner with Ukrainian gains in the east.
Do we step back & let the rat escape, or shoot it to get rid of the problem before he attacks us all?