nuclear-news

Residents near nuclear plant to be given anti-radiation pills

the pills should not be considered full protection against a nuclear event.

State to give out anti-radiation pills THE NEWS & OBSERVER, RALEIGH, N.C. | SARAH AVERY AND JOHN MURAWSKI  , Apr 27, -The 123,000 residents within 10 miles of the Shearon Harris nuclear power plant will be offered a new batch of potassium iodide pills next month, replacing tablets first distributed eight years ago.

Health officials in a four-county area — including Wake, Chatham, Harnett and Lee — will give away a single dose of the pills at local schools and other locations starting May 15, but free pills are available year-round at public health clinics. People who live outside the targeted zones can buy potassium iodide pills at pharmacies orover the Internet.

Known by its chemical symbol KI , potassium iodide is an over-the-counter treatment that can reduce the risk of thyroid cancer from radioactive exposure……

Jim Warren, an anti-nuclear activist with the group N.C. WARN, said the pills should not be considered full protection against a nuclear event.

“They are an important, albeit limited, protection,” Warren said, adding that the group had for years urged state officials to distribute the pills in the vulnerable areas around the state’s nuclear power plants. “This should not be a replacement for overall emergency planning or evacuation.”…..

Potassium iodide pills were originally distributed in a mass campaign in 2002-03, and Fuller said the old tablets have expired, prompting the effort to get new pills out.

Fuller said the pills are paid for by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which provided 600,000 to cover people in counties surrounding the three nuclear power plants in North Carolina, plus counties near a plant along the South Carolina border. State to give out anti-radiation pills

April 28, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, radiation, radioactive, reactor