US Government Orders 14 Million Doses of Potassium Iodide

[David2074]

Omnileech

A Problem

Shama_okami

A Problem

Shama_okami

The article gives us no 'why.' It's a government organization so the reason could be anything from a known imminent threat, to a paranoid official being put in charge, to someone noticing their current stock was low or going bad and they just wanted an emergency supply. Without more information I think this article is meaningless.

Even though the 'why' may be up for speculation, the article is definitely not meaningless. Governments often know details that we do not. And the amount purchased is unprecedented.

If the Government were found to be constructing concentration camps, would the news be meaningless because we don't know the 'why'?

Because having an available supply of life saving medicine is totally the same as preparing to forcibly imprison innocent people.

You missed my point. My point is that you need to watch what the Government is doing because it could likely effect you in the future. If the Government is purchasing such large amounts of iodine, then perhaps we should follow suit. Perhaps the Gov thinks that Fukushima reactor #3 will meltdown. Or maybe some kind of nuclear attack? Speculation is what I wanted this thread to have. It's a healthy thing. And it's not fear mongering if there's a remedy.

Stockpiling medicine used to treat contamination from nuclear power plants in preparation for a nuclear attack is what is unprecedented. There is absolutely nothing sinister in a government stockpiling medicine

You not knowing about it doesn't mean it is "unprecedented".
Did you ever consider the answer could be as simple as replacing old stock that it reaching end of shelf life? The shelf life of the tablets ordered is 7 years.

Iodine tablets are relatively cheap. Finger pointing at any government official / agency not sufficiently prepared for any potential disaster is relatively common.

And the people speculating this is due to debris from the Fukushima nuclear power plant don't know s**t about how iodine tablets work or what they are used for. Also, the Iodine-131 released from Fukushima has a half life of only 8 days.

Also worth noting potassium iodite is used to protect the thyroid during certain types of medical procedures and scans that involve radioactive iodine. I don't know how many doses / year are required for that on a national basis.

Watching what the government does is fine but assuming everything is some sort of conspiracy is not. I don't mean you personally, just the way some folks react to any interesting news about what our government is doing. I'm reminded of a year or two back when there was a news article about the government (homeland security I think) ordering a ton of ammunition. The tin foil hat crowd was swearing it was because the government was about to use force to take away the guns of all citizens. It couldn't have had anything to do with the many thousands of agents or the many many thousands of rounds used in routine target practice and shooting qualifications and such.

PS - If anyone reading this really feels a need to have your own potassium iodate you can readily buy it from Amazon (and probably other places). A bottle of 60 is $15. Just remember they are a prophylactic (have to be taken before exposure) and only help for radioactive iodine to keep your thyroid from absorbing it. They don't do jack for any other type of radiation.

[A Problem]

David2074

Omnileech

A Problem

Shama_okami

A Problem

Shama_okami

The article gives us no 'why.' It's a government organization so the reason could be anything from a known imminent threat, to a paranoid official being put in charge, to someone noticing their current stock was low or going bad and they just wanted an emergency supply. Without more information I think this article is meaningless.

Even though the 'why' may be up for speculation, the article is definitely not meaningless. Governments often know details that we do not. And the amount purchased is unprecedented.

If the Government were found to be constructing concentration camps, would the news be meaningless because we don't know the 'why'?

Because having an available supply of life saving medicine is totally the same as preparing to forcibly imprison innocent people.

You missed my point. My point is that you need to watch what the Government is doing because it could likely effect you in the future. If the Government is purchasing such large amounts of iodine, then perhaps we should follow suit. Perhaps the Gov thinks that Fukushima reactor #3 will meltdown. Or maybe some kind of nuclear attack? Speculation is what I wanted this thread to have. It's a healthy thing. And it's not fear mongering if there's a remedy.

Stockpiling medicine used to treat contamination from nuclear power plants in preparation for a nuclear attack is what is unprecedented. There is absolutely nothing sinister in a government stockpiling medicine

You not knowing about it doesn't mean it is "unprecedented".
Did you ever consider the answer could be as simple as replacing old stock that it reaching end of shelf life? The shelf life of the tablets ordered is 7 years.

Iodine tablets are relatively cheap. Finger pointing at any government official / agency not sufficiently prepared for any potential disaster is relatively common.

And the people speculating this is due to debris from the Fukushima nuclear power plant don't know s**t about how iodine tablets work or what they are used for. Also, the Iodine-131 released from Fukushima has a half life of only 8 days.

Also worth noting potassium iodite is used to protect the thyroid during certain types of medical procedures and scans that involve radioactive iodine. I don't know how many doses / year are required for that on a national basis.

Watching what the government does is fine but assuming everything is some sort of conspiracy is not. I don't mean you personally, just the way some folks react to any interesting news about what our government is doing. I'm reminded of a year or two back when there was a news article about the government (homeland security I think) ordering a ton of ammunition. The tin foil hat crowd was swearing it was because the government was about to use force to take away the guns of all citizens. It couldn't have had anything to do with the many thousands of agents or the many many thousands of rounds used in routine target practice and shooting qualifications and such.

PS - If anyone reading this really feels a need to have your own potassium iodate you can readily buy it from Amazon (and probably other places). A bottle of 60 is $15. Just remember they are a prophylactic (have to be taken before exposure) and only help for radioactive iodine to keep your thyroid from absorbing it. They don't do jack for any other type of radiation.

I get what most of what you're saying, but I heard it's mostly cesium-137 and strontium-90 being released from Fukushima. Both have a half-life of around 30 years.

[zaptar19]

Sooo does this mean we should get into nuclear bunkers and pack up on those chemicals?

[A Problem]

zaptar19

Sooo does this mean we should get into nuclear bunkers and pack up on those chemicals?

No, it mostly means an uncertain future for sea life in areas of the Pacific and more cases of thyroid cancer in the people of Northern Japan. But if reactor #3 goes, I have no idea what will happen.

[zaptar19]

A Problem

zaptar19

Sooo does this mean we should get into nuclear bunkers and pack up on those chemicals?

No, it mostly means an uncertain future for sea life in areas of the Pacific and more cases of thyroid cancer in the people of Northern Japan. But if reactor #3 goes, I have no idea what will happen.

Sounds shitty.

[David2074]

A Problem

David2074

Omnileech

A Problem

Shama_okami

Because having an available supply of life saving medicine is totally the same as preparing to forcibly imprison innocent people.

You missed my point. My point is that you need to watch what the Government is doing because it could likely effect you in the future. If the Government is purchasing such large amounts of iodine, then perhaps we should follow suit. Perhaps the Gov thinks that Fukushima reactor #3 will meltdown. Or maybe some kind of nuclear attack? Speculation is what I wanted this thread to have. It's a healthy thing. And it's not fear mongering if there's a remedy.

Stockpiling medicine used to treat contamination from nuclear power plants in preparation for a nuclear attack is what is unprecedented. There is absolutely nothing sinister in a government stockpiling medicine

You not knowing about it doesn't mean it is "unprecedented".
Did you ever consider the answer could be as simple as replacing old stock that it reaching end of shelf life? The shelf life of the tablets ordered is 7 years.

Iodine tablets are relatively cheap. Finger pointing at any government official / agency not sufficiently prepared for any potential disaster is relatively common.

And the people speculating this is due to debris from the Fukushima nuclear power plant don't know s**t about how iodine tablets work or what they are used for. Also, the Iodine-131 released from Fukushima has a half life of only 8 days.

Also worth noting potassium iodite is used to protect the thyroid during certain types of medical procedures and scans that involve radioactive iodine. I don't know how many doses / year are required for that on a national basis.

Watching what the government does is fine but assuming everything is some sort of conspiracy is not. I don't mean you personally, just the way some folks react to any interesting news about what our government is doing. I'm reminded of a year or two back when there was a news article about the government (homeland security I think) ordering a ton of ammunition. The tin foil hat crowd was swearing it was because the government was about to use force to take away the guns of all citizens. It couldn't have had anything to do with the many thousands of agents or the many many thousands of rounds used in routine target practice and shooting qualifications and such.

PS - If anyone reading this really feels a need to have your own potassium iodate you can readily buy it from Amazon (and probably other places). A bottle of 60 is $15. Just remember they are a prophylactic (have to be taken before exposure) and only help for radioactive iodine to keep your thyroid from absorbing it. They don't do jack for any other type of radiation.

I get what most of what you're saying, but I heard it's mostly cesium-137 and strontium-90 being released from Fukushima. Both have a half-life of around 30 years.

And potassium iodate does NOTHING to protect you from those isotopes.
While I disagree with some of the scare mongering going around on the internet about how bad the contamination is going to be in the USA I certainly agree they have an ugly problem over there and 'none' over here would be better than 'some'.

But my point was about the speculation that the reason for ordering the potassium iodate pills was due to radiation from Fukushima coming here to the USA sounds like BS because it only helps with radioactive iodine and we are only getting very trace amounts.

People seem to think potassium iodate is some sort of magic anti-radiation pill. It only protects your thyroid and only from radioactive iodine. In a nutshell, your thyroid likes to take in iodine. If it takes in a crap load of radioactive iodine that = bad. So if you know you are going to be exposed to that you take a potassium iodate pill which gives you about 700 times your daily recommended intake of iodine. Your thyroid gets saturated with non-radioactive iodine so when the radioactive iodine gets in your body the thyroid is less likely to absorb it. One pill protects you for approx. 24 hours. That process is also why you have to take it before exposure for best results. Meanwhile it does nothing to protect you from other types of radiation. The best approach in a high radiation area is still to get the heck out of Dodge.