(Host) The Vermont Health Department is getting ready to distribute potassium iodide tablets to people near the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. The distribution will begin April 15.
Potassium iodide can block exposure to radioactive iodine, one of the contaminants that could be released in a nuclear accident. Exposure can increase the risk of thyroid cancer.
The distribution is part of Vermont’s terrorism preparedness effort. A dose of the drug will be available to each person who works or resides in the six towns in southeastern Vermont near Vermont Yankee.
Separate preparations are being made to distribute the pills in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.