In order to provide safety for citizens in case of a disaster in the Belgian nuclear power plants, the federal government of the North Rhine - Westphalia in the fall will gain millions of iodine tablets. Those Federal lands in Germany are the only buyer of medicines containing iodine at their own expenses , said the spokesman for the Interior Ministry to the DPA news agency . The federal budget has allocated 800 thousand euros for the purchase of 21 million tablets .

It is the federal government who is responsible for providing iodine pills to the population. The regional authorities received their reserves from the  central warehouse still in 2014. However, the Federal Commission on Protection from Radiation analyzed the consequences of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster in Japan and gave new instructions. In case of emergency, all pregnant women, nursing mothers and adolescents up to 14 years  must take those pills. Also, all the habitats up to 45 years within kilometer zone of the infection. That have forced the authorities to fill in their reserves.