BRUSSELS: Belgium began to make iodine pills available free to its 11 million people in case of an accident at its ageing nuclear plants but said there was no “specific risk.”

The government also launched a website in the country’s official languages French, Dutch and German to tell people what to do in an emergency as it began implementing plans announ­­ced two years ago.

Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon said his government aimed to “properly inform” the public but said the plans were preventative.

“For now there is no specific risk with our nuclear plants,” Jambon said.

Pharmacies interviewed by Belgian media said they had begun receiving some of the 4.5m boxes of 10 iodine pills — which help re­­duce ra­­­d­­iation build-up in the thyr­o­id gland — that were orde­red by the government.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2018