Vodka, and Other DIY Dirty Bomb Remedies
A few years back, while researching a story on nuclear weaponry, a veteran of the Soviet atomic testing program told me of a prophylactic measure taken by technicians before each test: Hard liquor. A few shots of distilled spirit, he explained, were believed to stop the absorption of radioisotopes.
Nice theory, although I’m not too sure if it was grounded in fact: The Food and Drug Administration, for instance, recommends potassium iodide, not Old Grandad, in the event of a radiological or nuclear emergency (potassium iodide blocks the uptake of radioactive iodine-131 in the thyroid gland).
Still, it was a common enough piece of folk medicine.