France will offer free iodine tablets to around 2.2 million people living close to nuclear plants to help protect them from radiation in case of an accident

That's done here in the US, too. At least where I worked. Last job was in view of 2 nuclear powered generators within line of sight. Everybody was given a "K" tablet, which was Potassium Iodine. We were to hold onto it in the event of a nuclear incident, in which case we would take the pill and follow evacuation orders.

I'm glad there was never an incident, though, because this town had a river on one side and a mountain on the other with only a narrow switchback-filled road over it. The rest of the routes were one road that was about 15 minutes drive either way (on good days) to a decent-sized highway, also surrounded by the same river and mountain.

And here I am like a fool purchasing my own iodine supplements rather than living close to a nuclear plant where i could get it for free...sigh.