A minor incident at the Balakovskaya nuclear power plant created widespread panic in Saratov and nearby regions, with people clearing iodine off drugstore shelves and several being rushed to the hospital with symptoms of iodine poisoning. Reactor No. 2 at the Balakovskaya nuclear power plant, located outside the city of Balakov in the Saratov region, some 900 km southeast of Moscow, shut down on Thursday [4 Nov 2004] after a pipe burst, but, there was no radiation leak, the Federal Nuclear Power Agency said in a statement on Friday [12 Nov 2004]. However, the incident, which was 1st reported on...