The decision was taken after talks between officials from the defense and health ministries and the Israeli nuclear energy commission, the spokesman told AFP.

"These pills have been stored in the health ministry for the last 20 years amd will be distributed over the next two months as a preventative measure," he added.

"We have taken this decision because it has been proven that these pills are effective and should be taken very quickly in case of an increase in radiation around the reactors at Dimona and Nahal Sorek."

He denied that there was any cause for concern about safety measures or levels of radiation, adding that similar precautions had been taken in other foreign countries.

The tablets will be handed out in the towns of Dimona and Arad as well as to Bedouins living in the southern Negev desert close to the Dimona reactor.

Residents living in the town of Yavne, south of Tel Aviv and close to the smaller Nahal Sorek plant, will also be given the pills.

Israeli scientists and politicians have called for the closure of the 40-year-old Dimona plant, saying its age had increased the risk of accidents.

Israel has never publicly acknowledged that it maintains a nuclear arsenal but foreign experts say it has used its reactor at Dimona to produce between 100 and 200 nuclear warheads.

WAR.WIRE