Many governments, including the U.S. and Japan, are well aware of the dangers to their populations of exposure to high levels of radiation from nuclear accidents or dirty bomb  attacks. Whereas Japan’s population was recently exposed at Fukushima following the tsunami of 2011, the U.S. Department of Defense has been stockpiling acute radiation syndrome (ARS) countermeasures as a precaution for many years.

The recent escalation of tensions between North Korea and the U.S. may give the American government cause to up its investment in ARS antidotes. During a military parade on April 15^th, North Korea displayed weapons including an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could be capable of reaching the U.S. ARS may have just become a larger threat to health than it was just a few weeks ago. [Read more…]