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US bought 1.6 million KI doses; more on the way
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53971-2002Jan2.html";>
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53971-2002Jan2.html</A>
> ========================================================
> U.S. Says It Bought Radiation Drug
> 1.6 Million Doses Are On Hand; Stockpile to Be Increased
>
> By Justin Gillis
> Washington Post Staff Writer
> January 3, 2002
>
> The federal government recently bought 1.6 million doses of a drug that
> protects against certain kinds of radioactive fallout and will buy at least 6
> million additional doses in the coming year to create a large national
> stockpile, the Department of Health and Human Services said yesterday.
>
> HHS had not announced its purchase of potassium iodide but did so yesterday
> after an article appeared in The Washington Post earlier this week in which
> some experts lamented the lack of a stockpile to deal with a possible
> terrorist attack on a nuclear power plant.
>
> HHS received some deliveries of the drug last month and plans to buy more
> this year, said William Pierce, a spokesman for the agency. For security
> reasons, he said, the agency will not disclose where it plans to store the
> drug or how quickly it could be made available in the event of a nuclear
> attack.
>
> "We are intentionally, for security reasons, trying to be as nonspecific as
> we can be about all this," Pierce said. "This is part of our strategy of
> being as ready as possible to respond to any contingency."
>
> The HHS move comes as activists press state and local governments to create
> their own stockpiles. The drug is useful if taken within a few hours of
> exposure to radioactive iodine, one of the products of a nuclear reactor. The
> drug floods the thyroid gland, the most radiation-sensitive part of the body,
> with a safe form of iodine and prevents absorption of the radioactive kind.
>
> The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has agreed to pay for state stockpiles, but
> many state experts remain skeptical about their value, saying evacuation and
> sheltering people would be better responses to a nuclear attack.
>
> The HHS move will mean, however, that there's a large national stockpile
> available somewhere in the country that could be deployed in an emergency,
> fulfilling a pledge the federal government made 22 years ago, after the Three
> Mile Island nuclear accident.
>
> "Anything that gets us closer to having it available is a good thing," said
> David Becker, an expert with the American Thyroid Association.
>
> The HHS action follows repeated focus on the issue in Congress recently.
> Lawmakers such as Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a longtime proponent of
> the drug, won legislation in the House that would encourage the creation of
> stockpiles near nuclear plants.
>
> =========================================================
>
--
Coalition for Peace and Justice and the UNPLUG Salem Campaign; 321 Barr Ave., Linwood, NJ 08221; 609-601-8537 or 609-601-8583 (8583: fax, answer machine); ncohen12@home.com UNPLUG SALEM WEBSITE: http://www.unplugsalem.org/ COALITION FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE WEBSITE: http:/www.coalitionforpeaceandjustice.org The Coalition for Peace and Justice is a chapter of
Peace Action.
"First they ignore you; Then they laugh at you; Then they fight you; Then you win. (Gandhi) "Why walk when you can fly?" (Mary Chapin Carpenter)
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