Any  hard news indicate  IF Potassium Iodide is being distributed in Japan,   for evacuees of the  damaged powerplant?
There are containment concerns with the  "Pressurized water reactor".
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http://www.zerohedge.com/article/nuclear-expert-fukushima-has-24-hours-avoid-core-meltdown-scenario
. In an interview with Mark Hibbs, a Berlin-based senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a nonprofit think tank, Newsmax magazine asks - what happens next at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. ......
Hibbs spoke with Japanese government officials who told him the force of the tsunami was so severe that the water may have flooded the reactors,  power generators, and cooling mechanisms, disabling the equipment. "Which means they have to resort to basically a military-type exercise, to rush in to the devastated site equipment that they can quickly hook up to the reactor to get power in there and start this emergency equipment, to get cooling water into that core and prevent that fuel from overheating.

“And if they can’t do that,” he told Newsmax, “then you’re going to have this meltdown.”

They have 24 hours or so to avoid a core meltdown, he says. But if one occurs, two scenarios could follow: The good outcome would mirror what happened at Three Mile Island, while the bad one could involve what he called a “Chernobyl scenario, where the damage to the reactor was such that the integrity of the structures were damaged..
++++++++++++++++++++++++Updated 12 March+++++++++++++++++++++++
To protect the public from potential health effects of radioactive isotopes of iodine that could potentially be released, authorities are preparing to distribute tablets of non-radioactive potassium-iodide. This is quickly taken up by the body and its presence prevents the take-up of iodine should people be exposed to it.

The injection of seawater into the building started at 8.20pm and this will be followed by addition of boric acid, which is used to inhibit nuclear reactions.

Over the last several hours evacuation orders for local residents have been incrementally increased and now cover people living within 20 kilometres of the power plant.

Terms to look up:  confinement vs. containment in relation to nuclear power.

The Japanese reactors have containment buildings.    Even if a core meltdown had occurred, (which is contrary to any news reports at this time) it did not occur with a breech of containment.  There has not been any reported contamination release.

(Three Mile Island released less contamination (Curie amount) than the EPA allows reactors to release on a daily basis as a part of normal reactor operations, as an example of containment working.)

There has been no need for KI to be distributed to the public in relation to the events in Japan so far.

I would be embarrassed if I passed off a "report" like this as news. It is clear the guy being interviewed has only a vague clue what he is talking about.

Chernobyl was as bad as it was due to a terribly flawed design. TMI worked exactly as it was supposed to and the minor contamination issue was properly contained.

Evacuation zone has been expanded to 20 kilometer radius.
Iodide is reportedly   distributed to civilians.
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http://www.zerohedge.com/article/world-nuclear-news-forensic-analysis-events-fukushima-nuclear-plant

Last weekend, I had gone into a local CVS to see if they carried potassium iodide in the stores. The pharmacy gal went with me over to the section that I'd just been in and looked intently for it. She asked what it was for and I casually mentioned it was something the government suggested should be part of a disaster preparedness kit. She seemed somewhat taken aback by the comment, as if it were so uncommon that people might actually have a disaster kit. Bet she thinks I'm clairvoyant now....

BTW, when I got back home I went on-line, the CVS tabs are "on-line only".

You can't buy this stuff at the local CVS store, CVS is for the normal stuff, for KI pills you need to "survival store," such as Major Surplus & Survival in the Los Angeles area.

Tells you all you need to know, right there.

Actually, KI or KIO3 (or 'Potassium plus Iodine') can be found at some grocery and drug stores, normally with the vitamins and dietary supplements. Problem is, the dosage is very low–– on the order of tens of micrograms (millionths of a gram) when the dosage for preventing uptake of radioactive iodine is something like 130 milligrams (thousandths of a gram) daily. Same story with iodized salt–– there's iodine there, but in very small quantities. I just checked a bottle of salt here at the house (Morton's Iodized), and it claims 45% USRDA of iodine in 1.5g of salt. USRDA of iodine is about 150 micrograms, so that works out to about 70 micrograms per 1.5 grams of salt. To get your 130 milligrams of daily iodine for a nuclear accident you'd need 2000 1.5 gram servings, or about 3 kilograms (about 6-1/2 lbs), and that right there'll kill you.

Funny, the Japanese .GOV is telling everyone to evacuate, but how do you do this when all of the roads are damaged, and the trains are wiped out. You won't get very far on foot, all those thousands of people. Not going to happen.

We live ~ 10 miles from a nuke plant, and as part of their plan, we get vouchers for free KI from Target Pharmacies each year. Reminds me, the new calendar came out with the voucher in it. I should go get some more.

Amazon.com has  a couple vendors that sell it in 1 person dosage bottles.

I wrote a paper on TMI for a college class,  I was too young at the time to do more then remember it.  IIRC, there were so many remote detectors that had failed, we don't know what was released.  It wasn't much, but it was in excess of anything allowed.  (Based on PEMA on site teams.)

The one disaster they really scares the heck out of me was the Browns Ferry fire here in Alabama.  They got everything wrong.  3-4 years ago, I was on a flight to DC with a hot chick with the NRC.  I was just talking to her and asking her if the stories about companies proposing new nuclear reactors were real, or just wishful thinking.  Some where I mentioned the abandonded by TVA plant in Scottsboro, Al  I wish I had recorded her answer, it was somethign along the lines of the TVA, made great strides in along side the WPA and CCC in improving the life of poor rural southerners, and has continued to have a history of operating large concrete dams in a safe manner.  Since most of of nuclear power plant is concrete, and it makes power, it's a natural fit to the culture of the TVA.  She soon shut up when she found out I was from Al, and knew people at the NRC.

Not true. check out the link.

CVS Emergency Iodide

I'm kind of shocked they actually sell it.

I was in three different health food stores in the Los Angeles area today, and a several of people were asking about potassium iodide in each one.  One sales clerk was exasperated and said people had been calling and asking for it all day.  



The "naturals" which have iodine in microgram doses, like kelp and kelp extract, were all sold out.  



It was an interesting experience.  



-Sven

http://www.nukepills.com/potassium-iodide.htm

I meant a "brick & mortar" store. Those things don't sell very fast so I doubt that any individual store would stock it. At Major Surplus KI is most likely standard stock item for them. If you need KI today like someone near those broken reactors, you certainly wouldn't buy it from CVS over the internet, especially with their devastated infrastructure, you would head for Major Surplus.

The problem with most mainstream "brick & mortar" stores is that don't stock anything unless there is overwhelming demand for it, and most non-survivalist type probably never heard of it.

So what is the difference between CVS brand and Nuke Pills brand? It seems like the same product and I get my CVS discount on it. If I have a family of four and wanted it in my preps I guess I would just buy four packs or should I get eight?

True you can't buy it at a "local" CVS, but it's not true you have to go to an online "survival" store. As my link shows, CVS does carry the stuff online, and if you order BEFORE the SHTF, your good to go. (Unless you live in LA, then you could go to the store you mentioned, which sounds pretty cool.)

No difference.

As for 4 or 8, are you serious? This is the ARF.com SF. Get 24!!!!

My limited knowledge of KI is that the shelf life is not that long. Apparently the FDA has signed off on an extension to 72 months. I'm talking FDA approved products in original blister packs.
Would  it's shelf life benefit from being stored in air tight containers with O2 absorbers?

The "solution" (pardon the pun) to this problem, if you're really concerned, is to just get some USP or even reagent grade potassium iodide crystals.  The directions are easily findable, how much KI powder/crystals to distilled water to mix up, and how many drops to use per body weight for correct dosage.  Taking KI this way is not all that pleasant though due to the extremely bitter taste of the KI solution.  But, you can have KI dosages available for a huge number of people at low cost this way.

Something to consider is taking a KI dose ahead of time.  A small number of people might have an allergic or other adverse reaction to it, and better to find that out ahead of time than in the middle of an actual disaster.

KIO3 (potassium iodate) in pill form is a viable alternative to KI for this purpose as well, and might be overlooked by those simply searching for KI.

According to the NRC, the IOstat KI shelf life is 7 years.

http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/emerg-preparedness/protect-public/ki-faq.html#shelflife

This is so amazing. So I am in South West Florida and I had to pickup my meds from Walgreens and all I could hear is someone answering the phone over and over about people asking about if they had Potassium Iodide in stock. I mean come on we are in Florida... I talked to the lady behind the counter and I guess everyone has been freaking out and calling and the Doctors are calling in Perscriptions for it. I didn't know you could get it as a perscription and get it for just the CO-PAY. I called my insurance company to ask (because I had to call BS) and they said I could get 120 pills free with a Doctor's perscription. My generic pills are free... geeze, you have to be kidding me... I guess I will be calling the doctor tomorrow for free pills... Anyway I thought I would just throw this out.

I guess the question I really have is I know that the ones that I already have are prepackaged in 14 day dosages and it's all sealed and good till 2017. I was wondering if I got 120 and just stuck them in a drawer if they would have the same shelf life? I wouldn't think so because they are out in the air but maybe someone knows...

NukePills.com

I bought mine many years ago... Come on, guys!  Stay with us!!!