Dylan Stoll | Health Editor
Featured image courtesy of Pixabay
As the powers that be tempt the gods of war, the idea of a nuclear battle has inevitably found its place in the spotlight, but so too has nuclear energy. Nuclear power plants such as Chernobyl in Russia, or the Fukushima reactor in Japan, have forced the world to see firsthand the devastating consequences of a single reactor meltdown — consequences that are essentially as severe as a nuclear explosion itself.
But more often than not, these situations are happening on foreign soil. Sadly, it is only when the danger hits home that we decide to become more vigilant in our proactive measures.
The Pickering power plant for instance, Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, only a thirty-minute drive from York, recently had Canadians holding their breath when a false alarm was sent out indicating a nuclear situation. It took them over 107 minutes to correct the false alarm, but in those 107 minutes, Canada experienced a taste of nuclear fear: a fear that is well-warranted.
But what is it about nuclear energy that makes it so dangerous, and why should we be afraid?
When a substance is contaminated with radiation, the production of invisible, harmful, alpha, beta, and gamma rays, as well as free neutrons occurs as a result of radioactive decay and “follows” that same substance.
For instance, if your shirt is contaminated with radiation, it is now considered irradiated, and a threat to the health of anyone who wears it.
Known collectively as ionizing radiation, each form of radiation (alpha, beta, gamma), as well as the free neutrons, cause immense damage to the physical systems of organisms in their path due to their high energy nature — organisms that include ourselves.
As such, radiation exposure is extremely deadly. It is why entire cities are evacuated when a nuclear reactor has a meltdown. This is why deformities develop generations later in the descendants of those unlucky enough to be caught in its path. It is why the nuclear warhead has gained universal notoriety as an “end-game” weapon of mass destruction.
Radiation exposure is the modern equivalent of all four apocalyptic horsemen collapsed into one, and in the event another serious nuclear event happens, it is best that you are prepared and informed, rather than afraid and ignorant.
Contrary to popular belief, the radiation damage that follows a nuclear meltdown, or god forbid, a nuclear detonation, can be treated if you proactively recognize and respond to the symptoms of radiation exposure quickly enough with the right medication.
Following the Pickering power plant problem, the sale of Potassium iodide pills, a common item for treating radiation, increased from an average of 200 sold in a month to over 56,000. This response, though logical, would only protect you from a portion of radiation exposure, which is the portion that affects the thyroid.
Potassium iodide works by providing non-contaminated iodine for your thyroid to absorb, thus preventing radioactive iodine from taking its place. Though highly effective in protecting the thyroid, there are other internal organs that are affected by radiation exposure as well.
Prussian blue, another radiation exposure treatment option, is a type of dye that binds to radioactive elements such as cesium and thallium that are trapped in the body. It is used to facilitate the body’s excretion of the elements. Diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (DTEPA) is another treatment that acts on the same principle as Prussian blue, also binding to radioactive elements, but in this case, the elements are plutonium, americium, and curium.
Using Prussian blue and DTEPA, in addition to potassium iodide pills, should help you survive long-term, but exposure requiring immediate treatment is another beast entirely.
In the event that you are exposed to radiation levels requiring emergency medical treatment, it is essential that you remember the possible distance to the source and time of exposure, as well as the time between exposure and vomiting, because you will be vomiting.
At best, what is referred to as acute radiation sickness will make you nauseous, give you diarrhea, and at worst, you will be having seizures and going into a coma. Providing this information will help your medical responder determine how severe your situation is and what sort of treatment you may require.
When faced with a patient who has radiation exposure, there are a few options that a medical care professional has.
Firstly, after decontaminating you (removal of clothing and cleaning the body with soap and water) they will ask you whether you have diaharea, sores, ulcers, nausea, vomiting, dehydration, and even burns (as radiation exposure in high doses causes actual, visible damage).
Secondly, they may use devices such as a survey meter to determine where radiation exposure is highest on the body, or they may use a dosimeter to determine the amount of radiation exposure.
They will also give you multiple blood tests over the course of a few days to see if there are any drops in white blood cell counts. Such a drop would be indicative of bone marrow damage, which in itself is indicative of severe radiation exposure.
In the case that you do experience bone marrow damage, you will likely be given a protein-based medication known as granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. This will stimulate the production of white blood cells, hopefully counteracting the radiation’s effects on your immune system.
But unfortunately, there are cases in which the radiation exposure is simply too severe, and nothing can be done to save you. The best that a medical professional can do is to provide pain medication, and if applicable, pastoral care. Such cases, though tragic, should serve as a reminder to everyone that radiation exposure is nothing to be trifled with, at the very least.
If you happen to live in the vicinity of a nuclear power plant, or any other locations where nuclear radiation exposure is a possibility, preparing yourself with a radiation treatment kit and a fallout plan is advised.
Such a plan would include the means by which you would protect your home. Though direct radiation (alpha, gamma, beta rays, and neutrons) would be impractical to protect yourself against, 95 per cent of irradiated particles can be prevented from contaminating your living quarters if you act quickly.
If you go outside after a fallout situation, you may be exposing yourself to deadly levels of irradiated materials, but if you stay inside and use plastic sheeting to cover openings like doorways, chimneys, and windows, you decrease the chance that irradiated particles such as dust or dirt become contaminants to yourself.
So the next time your phone wakes you up at four in the morning to tell you your local nuclear power plant is spewing toxic waste to the wind, remember to stay indoors, seal yourself up and take your medication; it may mean the difference between you on a hospital bed versus you on your deathbed.
