[Nuclear accidents and iodine prophylaxis. Part 1: Risks due to irradiation of the thyroid gland]

In the frame of the emergency procedures in the case of an accident in a nuclear plant, this paper presents a survey of the information available on the risks related to the irradiation of the thyroid gland. Attention is focused on thyroid cancer resulting from an exposure to radioactive isotopes of iodine and especially and iodine-131. The consequences of the medical exposures as well as of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki irradiations are recalled first. Then the recently available informations on the effects on the populations exposed after the Tchernobyl accident are analysed more in details. Ten years after the accident, the most striking and the least questionable effects is a significant increase of the incidence of differentiated thyroid cancer in children, in the areas most exposed to the initial radioactive clouds. Young children are particularly vulnerable to this type of cancer which is of aggressive nature and shows a short latency period. These observations justify an iodine prophylaxis for the populations living in the vicinity of nuclear plants. Special attention should be paid to the protection of young children.