has been documented up to 500 km from the accident site... significant doses from radioactive iodine can occur hundreds of kilometers from the site, beyond emergency planning zones." Consequently, far more people than anticipated were affected by the radiation, which caused the United Nations to report in 2002 that "The number of people with thyroid cancer... has exceeded expectations. Over 11,000 cases have already been reported." Hiroshima and Nagasaki The Chernobyl findings were consistent with studies of the effects of previous radioactivity releases. In 1945, several hundreds of thousands of people working and residing in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were exposed to high levels of radiation after atomic bombs were detonated over the two cities by the United States. Survivors of the A-bombings, also known as hibakusha, have markedly high rates of thyroid disease; a 2006 study of 4091 hibakusha found nearly half the participants (1833; 44.8%) had an identifiable thyroid disease. An editorial in The Journal of the American Medical Association regarding thyroid diseases in both hibakusha and those affected by the Chernobyl disaster reports that "[a] straight line adequately describes the relationship between radiation dose and thyroid cancer incidence" and states "it is remarkable that a biological effect from a single brief environmental exposure nearly 60 years in the past is still present and can be detected." Nuclear weapons testing The development of thyroid cancer among residents in the North Pacific from radioactive fallout following the United States' nuclear weapons testing in the 1950s (on islands nearly 200 miles downwind of the tests) were instrumental in the 1978 decision by the FDA to issue a request for the availability of KI for thyroid protection in the event of a release from a commercial nuclear power plant or weapons-related nuclear incident. Noting that KI's effectiveness was "virtually complete" and finding that iodine in the form of KI was substantially superior to other forms including iodate (KIO3) in terms of safety, effectiveness, lack of side effects, and speed of onset, the FDA invited manufacturers to submit applications to produce and market KI. Fukushima It was reported on March 16, 2011, that potassium iodide tablets were given preventively to U.S. Naval air crew members flying within 70 nautical miles of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant damaged in the earthquake (8.9/9.0 magnitude) and ensuing tsunami on March 11, 2011. The measures were seen as precautions, and the Pentagon