Free Republic

Missiles may be an attempt to thwart detection May 28, 2009 North Korea has launched five short-range missiles since carrying out its underground nuclear test Monday and could be preparing to fire off another one soon, further heightening tensions on the Korean Peninsula and across the region. The launches likely represent an attempt by Pyongyang to interfere with South Korean and U.S. efforts to detect the radioactive gases that a nuclear explosion emits, analysts said. Nuclear explosions create radioactive noble gases, such as xenon and krypton, that don’t combine with other geological elements, according to Harold P. Smith, a former...

Wednesday, June 5, 2002 Residents Near NY Nuke Plant to Get Iodide Pills WHITE PLAINS, New York (Reuters) - Amid fears nuclear power plants could be the target of terror attacks, officials plan to provide residents near the Indian Point installation, just north of New York, with potassium iodide pills to protect against any release of radioactive gases. West Chester County officials said that beginning on Saturday the pills will be distributed on the first three Saturdays in June at three local schools. The distribution of the pills, which were provided by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and are known as...