Chernobyl episode five airs Monday, June 3 on HBO and Tuesday, June 4 on Sky Atlantic. The fifth episode will be the final instalment in the series which dramatises the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster. The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency estimate that the number of premature deaths associated with the disaster is approximately 4,000 and many more people are expected to have suffered from the effects of radiation that came from the explosion.
Do Iodine pills reduce radiation sickness?
Yes, iodine tablets – consisting of Potassium iodide (KI) – can help reduce the effects of radiation exposure.
Iodine tablets work by effectively blocking the radioactive iodine present in radiation from entering the body.
However, they must be taken within several hours of exposure to be effective, according to the NHS.
In Chernobyl the miniseries, Ulana Khomyuk (played by Emily Watson) is seen taking the iodine pills in episode two and telling her fellow staff at the nuclear plant in Minsk to take as many as they can until they run out
Nurses in the hospital were also seen giving patients iodine pills.
HOW HISTORICALLY ACCURATE IS CHERNOBYL ON HBO?
When Chernobyl exploded, a cloud of radiation was released into the air and radioactive fallout spread across Ukraine, Belarus, parts of Europe and the Soviet Union.
Iodine-131 was one of the most dangerous chemicals that came from the explosion and has a half-life of just eight days.
David Summer and Iain Fairlie in the book The Other Report on Chernobyl explained that the four most harmful radionuclides spread from Chernobyl were iodine-131, caesium-134, caesium-137 and strontium-90.
They have half-lives of 8.02 days, 2.07 years, 30.2 years and 28.8 years respectively.
At first iodine was seen to be less dangerous than the others, however, it was later discovered it was highly volatile and travelled the furthest across Europe.
Iodine -131 also gives off the most radiation in the shortest period of time and does the most damage to the thyroid.
This is because the thyroid is the only part of the body that can absorb iodine
WHEN DID CHERNOBYL EXPLODE?
In the short term exposure to iodine-131 can cause astute radiation syndrome and in the long term, the iodine can cause thyroid cancer.
If iodine tablets are taken within 48 hours before radiation exposure or eight hours after radiation exposure, it can reduce the intake of iodine-131.
This is because the non-radioactive iodine tablets will saturate the thyroid, making it hard for the thyroid to absorb the dangerous radioactive nature of iodine-131.
On the other hand, it is important to note that iodine pills do not provide blanket protection from radiation poisoning.
Many people after the Chernobyl explosion were diagnosed with Thyroid cancer.
According to LiveScience.com, it is estimated that following the Chernobyl disaster, 270,000 people in the Ukraine, Russia and Belarus who wouldn’t have otherwise developed cancers ending up suffering from these illnesses.
HOW DID THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT RESPOND TO CHERNOBYL?
The World Health Organisation (WHO) notes that there had been a large increase in the incidence of thyroid cancer amongst people who were young children or adolescents at the time of the explosion and lived in Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine.
According to WHO, today at least 5,000 cases of thyroid cancer have been diagnosed amongst adults who were aged up to 18 years at the time of Chernobyl living in Belarus, the Soviet Union and Ukraine.
This was because the radioactive iodine had entered the food chain, particular through the milk and was entering the body directly and unknowingly.
In the immediate aftermath, 28 firemen died who tackled the blaze at the power plant in Pripyat as a result of Acute Radiation Syndrome.
Chernobyl airs Mondays on HBO and Tuesdays on Sky Atlantic
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