Banner year for emergency preparedness

MOORESVILLE, N.C., Jan. 6 (UPI) -- The niche market of radiation emergency preparedness posted record sales in 2009, a supplier of emergency preparedness products says.

Officials at Nukepills.com, a supplier of radiation emergency preparedness products that protect against dirty bomb radiation, nuclear reactor accidents and nuclear weapon fallout, says 2009 was also a banner year for supplying face masks to reduce the transmission of H1N1 flu through face masks. In response to media stories of H1N1, the company's large inventory of N95 face masks, normally purchased online for protection during radiation decontamination, was depleted in just a few days.

Reports of radiation leaks at multiple nuclear plants, including Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island, spawned even more demand for the radiation-blocking drug potassium iodide, Nukepills.com officials say.

Last fall a very limited supply of potassium iodide tablets was distributed courtesy of the U.S. government to people residing within 10 miles of select nuclear plants, Nukepills.com officials say.

Nukepills.com delivered 5.4 million doses of U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved ThyroShield Potassium Iodide to Kuwait's ministry of health to protect its citizens from nuclear radiation. Kuwaiti officials said the potential threat of a U.S. attack on Iran's nuclear reactor prompted the purchase.