Role of iodine in nuclear disasters

The amount of radioactive iodine uptake by thyroid is inversely proportional to concentration of iodide in blood. That is why iodide salts were given during nuclear disaster to prevent the chances of hypothyroidism & radiation induced thyroid cancer.Following the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident in 1986, approximately 10 million children and adults in Poland were given stable iodine to prevent the development of thyroid cancers