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Tchoky
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October 09, 2003
Cancer pills for schools near nuclear submarine
By Ellen Connolly
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8122-847660,00.html
ANTI-CANCER pills have been handed out to thousands of schoolchildren in Hampshire to protect them from radiation that it is feared could leak from a nuclear submarine docked in Portsmouth.
Potassium iodate pills, which prevent the development of thyroid cancer later in life, have been distributed to 31 schools in the city, as well as its university and art college.
More than 160,000 pills have been stored at distribution centres in the city to be handed out in case of a radiation leak from HMS Torbay.
Martyn Powell, emergency planning officer at Hampshire County Council, described the drug distribution in Portsmouth, and the nearby town of Gosport, as a precaution, but nuclear science watchdogs said the submarine should not be anywhere near children in the first place.
The worst-case scenario is for gamma radiation to leak into the atmosphere from the vessel, Mr Powell said. This radiation does not have a fatal effect straight away but can cause cancer of the thyroid gland about 30 years down the line.
Di McDonald, of the Nuclear Info Service, said: We are concerned there could be a serious accident.
Cancer pills for schools near nuclear submarine
By Ellen Connolly
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8122-847660,00.html
ANTI-CANCER pills have been handed out to thousands of schoolchildren in Hampshire to protect them from radiation that it is feared could leak from a nuclear submarine docked in Portsmouth.
Potassium iodate pills, which prevent the development of thyroid cancer later in life, have been distributed to 31 schools in the city, as well as its university and art college.
More than 160,000 pills have been stored at distribution centres in the city to be handed out in case of a radiation leak from HMS Torbay.
Martyn Powell, emergency planning officer at Hampshire County Council, described the drug distribution in Portsmouth, and the nearby town of Gosport, as a precaution, but nuclear science watchdogs said the submarine should not be anywhere near children in the first place.
The worst-case scenario is for gamma radiation to leak into the atmosphere from the vessel, Mr Powell said. This radiation does not have a fatal effect straight away but can cause cancer of the thyroid gland about 30 years down the line.
Di McDonald, of the Nuclear Info Service, said: We are concerned there could be a serious accident.
