Belgium has begun giving its 11 million citizens free access to iodine pills in the event of an accident at its ageing nuclear plants, while maintaining that there is no “specific risk”, The Guardian reports.
In the event of a nuclear disaster, iodine pills help reduce radiation build-up in the thyroid gland - the part of the body most sensitive to radiation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Belgium’s seven “creaking” nuclear reactors have sparked concern after several problems “ranging from leaks to cracks” and an “unsolved sabotage incident”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In previous years, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany have expressed their own worries with Belgium’s nuclear plants, adds the Guardian. The Dutch government ordered millions of iodine pills for its own citizens residing near the Belgian border.
The Belgian government has also launched a website available in the country’s official languages of French, Flemish and German to tell people what to do in an nuclear emergency.
However, interior minister Jan Jambon said these plans were preventative: “For now there is no specific risk with our nuclear plants.”
Benoit Ramacker, spokesman for the national crisis centre, said Belgium launched a series of nuclear accident emergency measures in 1991. Those measures have only been updated once since then, in 2003.
“Citizens must also prepare to help themselves the day something happens”, said Ramacker.
-
Political cartoons for January 25Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include a hot economy, A.I. wisdom, and more
-
Le Pen back in the dock: the trial that’s shaking FranceIn the Spotlight Appealing her four-year conviction for embezzlement, the Rassemblement National leader faces an uncertain political future, whatever the result
-
The doctors’ strikesThe Explainer Resident doctors working for NHS England are currently voting on whether to go out on strike again this year
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
-
Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned
