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Potassium iodide distributors have a friend on Twitter:
A Twitter battle over the size of each "nuclear button" possessed by President Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong-un has spiked sales of a drug that protects against radiation poisoning.
Troy Jones, who runs the website www.nukepills.com, said demand for potassium iodide soared last week, after Trump tweeted that he had a "much bigger & more powerful" button than Kim — a statement that raised new fears about an escalating threat of nuclear war. "On Jan. 2, I basically got in a month's supply of potassium iodide and I sold out in 48 hours," said Jones, 53, who is a top distributor of the drug in the United States. His Mooresville, N.C., firm sells all three types of the product approved by the Food and Drug Administration. No prescription is required.
In that two-day period, Jones said, he shipped about 140,000 doses of potassium iodide, also known as KI, which blocks the thyroid from absorbing radioactive iodine and protects against the risk of cancer. Without the tweet, he typically would have sent out about 8,400 doses to private individuals, he said. Jones also sells to government agencies, hospitals and universities, which aren't included in that count.
Alan Morris, president of the Williamsburg, Va.-based pharmaceutical firm Anbex Inc., which distributes potassium iodide, said he's seen a bump in demand, too. "We are a wonderful barometer of the level of anxiety in the country," said Morris.
Note: A comment on the article claims that Nukepills is massively overcharging for the substance.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday January 13 2018, @06:41PM (9 children)
We were positing a "terrorist" Hiroshima level detonation, not Tsar Bomba. The 120mph rated commercial glass with the heavy sun-reflective coating on it wouldn't stop all the heat flash, but it would be quite a bit better than standing out on the roof.
Neutrons? Maybe, again, we're talking about something that disgruntled Arab princes might cobble together on the black market, not something developed by scientists working with the protection and backing of a nation-state. I'd be curious what the effect of a 200 ton steel and consumer-goods bomb casing would have on Little Boy - would we get more neutrons, or less?
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by turgid on Saturday January 13 2018, @06:46PM (7 children)
Iron absorbs neutrons, so you'd get a reduced flux, but if you have a nuclear explosion you will have a lot of neutrons and gamma rays. Terrorists probably couldn't make a proper nuclear bomb, but they could make a dirty bomb and from 5 miles away you'd be safe until the wind blew the contamination over. Again, it depends on the "dirt" they put in. An alpha emitter would be pretty nasty if you breathed it in, and they heavy metals damage the organs. Jolly stuff! Eat, drink and be merry... And stop voting for loonies like Trump.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday January 13 2018, @06:54PM (1 child)
The more you debate Trump supporters with logic, the more entrenched they become in their beliefs... it's a tough problem, I'm hoping that 4 years of experience with the result is going to get us a swing back the other way - it seems to be showing signs of working already: Alabama elected a Democrat.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by turgid on Saturday January 13 2018, @07:02PM
My hope too, with the likes of the British Conservative Party, Brexit and Nigel Farage.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 3, Informative) by frojack on Saturday January 13 2018, @09:23PM (4 children)
We've had that scenario a half dozen times or more since Hiroshima.
Latest: Fukushima Daiichi
Outcome INES Level 7 (major accident)
Non-fatal injuries 37 with physical injuries,
2 workers taken to hospital with possible radiation burns.
No direct deaths.
Chernobyl disaster
Deaths 31 (direct) (Mostly heroic firemen tunneling under the reactor.)
15 (estimated indirect deaths up to 2011 - statistically excess cancers)
Radiation has proven to be far less lethal than the initial blast. If the blast
didn't kill you, your chance for survival are rather high.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by turgid on Saturday January 13 2018, @09:25PM (1 child)
You're quite the professor today.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 14 2018, @07:46PM
What he is is a denialist.
15 (estimated indirect deaths up to 2011
As of 2004, nearly a million premature deaths were attributed to Chernobyl. [google.com]
Lying by omission is still lying.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Sunday January 14 2018, @04:24AM (1 child)
So, did any of the Apollo astronauts die of radiation exposure? Obviously not immediately. Now I, and anyone in that program, would gladly have traded 5-10 years of life for the experience, but... statistically, I think that's what it's looking like they did.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/astronauts-heart-disease-link-what-happens-to-your-body-in-space-a7159946.html [independent.co.uk]
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 14 2018, @04:52PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 13 2018, @11:49PM
You're delusional if you believe in the narrative that a nuclear terrorist threat would be some DIY garage bomb shit. You can "cobble together" a dirty bomb from medical-use radionucleids or whatever, fuck pay some kids or tweakers to pull apart enough smoke detectors and you're a-go. But a real nuke would more than likely be one of the various warheads that are unaccounted for since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Or now that Pakistan is officially pissed off at the USA, they might be kicking out all the US spies and try to move their stockpile from away from prying eyes, which could open up opportunities for the enterprising nuke thief.
I would not be surprised if some "disgruntled Arab princes" already own a classic Red Star Nuke as a personal deterrent. People with that kind of money are (hopefully) too clever to play this card on the offense though.