Nuclear plants must give anti-radiation pills to nearby residents: regulator
Source: CBC
Residents and businesses near nuclear power plants must be provided with potassium iodide pills as a precautionary measure in case of an emergency, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission said Friday.
The pills, which must be preemptively distributed in conjunction with local governments, protect against nuclear exposure by preventing the human thyroid gland from absorbing radiation.
<snip>
In Canada, mass distribution of pills has already occurred in New Brunswick and Quebec, but not in Ontario, where the majority of the countrys nuclear power plants are located.
The CNSC had come under pressure from international environmental groups such as Greenpeace to improve safety standards in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan. Many other countries have had a system of mandatory pre-distribution of potassium iodide pills for years.
<snip>
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nuclear-plants-must-give-anti-radiation-pills-to-nearby-residents-regulator-1.2796233
Journeyman
(15,001 posts)enough
(13,237 posts)snip>
While the specific area covered by this definition differs from site to site, it is generally a radius of between eight and 16 kilometres from a nuclear power plant.
snip>
L0oniX
(31,493 posts)uppityperson
(115,674 posts)that might get radiation if there is a problem should have them as the thyroid is a very important gland and thyroid cancer can be bad. But it does not protect against radiation in general, beyond the thyroid.
NutmegYankee
(16,178 posts)The KI pills just load the body up with so much iodine that we don't take anymore in and instead purge it out. Since you don't take in the radioactive form of iodine, the thyroid is spared. I live 10 miles NNW of a nuclear plant, so I get the pamphlets and pills.