Iodine tablets for all Belgians, advises Scientific Council

Iodine tablets should to be distributed to all inhabitants of Belgium in a preventive measure in the case of nuclear disaster, urges the country's Scientific Council. Currently, only residents living within 20 kilometers of a large nuclear power plant receive the tablets.

Iodine tablets can protect against thyroid cancer in the event of a nuclear disaster, as they block the thyroid gland with iodine before radioactive iodine can accumulate there. The preventive distribution of iodine tablets should therefore be standard practice for the whole of Belgium, explains the Council.

The Scientific Council last week presented its plea to the Board of Governors of the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC), as part of a larger update to its nuclear emergency plan.