[ RadSafe ] Japanese Gov't to distribute guidelines for firefighters on nuclear

[Sandy Perle]

Index:

Japanese Gov't to distribute guidelines for firefighters on nuclear
Scientist May Have Falsified Yucca Mountain Papers
NRC Says Vermont Yankee Plant, Despite Problems, Doing OK
Utah congressional delegation argues against nuclear waste facility
Los Alamos Security Flap May Have Cost $367M - Official
Mining companies move to reopen Utah uranium ore processing mill
Nuclear testing resolution signed by Huntsman
Correction: Seabrook - NRC
State regulators approve Kewaunee nuclear power plant sale
US Court Revives Lawsuit Against Cell Phone Industry
Unnecessary and Inferior Medical Imaging Lowers Quality of Care
HHS Awards BioShield Contract for Liquid Potassium Iodide
============================================

Japanese Gov't to distribute guidelines for firefighters on nuclear

TOKYO, March 19 (Kyodo) - The Japanese government will distribute to 
local governments guidelines on how firefighters should ensure their 
own safety during their rescue operations in situations such as a 
terrorist attack using radioactive materials, government officials 
said Saturday.

The government plans to distribute the guidelines as early as late 
March to the governments of Japan's 47 prefectures and about 850 
firefighting headquarters nationwide, the officials said.

Besides nuclear terrorism, the guidelines also cover incidents such 
as accidents while transporting nuclear waste to storage facilities 
and fires at medical facilities where radiation treatment is 
conducted.

Under the guidelines, firefighters will wear radiation protection 
suits before going to the site, and determine restricted areas 
contaminated by radiation after figuring out the extent of 
contamination.

Firefighters will then take injured people outside the contaminated 
areas, undress them and transport them to hospitals after clearing 
radioactive materials attached to their hair and skin.

The guidelines also instruct firefighters to wash off their 
protection suits when leaving the site.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency plans to provide fire 
departments nationwide with nuclear radiation protection suits for 
firefighters and radiation counters that currently are only placed in 
municipalities hosting nuclear facilities, the officials said.

In 2001, the government distributed similar guidelines to radiation 
facilities in Japan.
----------------

Scientist May Have Falsified Yucca Mountain Papers

WASHINGTON (March 18) - E-mails from a government hydrologist to his 
supervisor, copied to several co-workers, led the Energy Department 
to believe that documents on the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump 
might have been falsified, government officials said.

The documents concerned 6-year-old U.S. Geological Survey studies of 
water movement in the planned Nevada dump. USGS scientists validated 
Energy Department conclusions that water seepage was relatively slow, 
so radiation would be less likely to escape.

Other studies have pointed to faster water movement. If it turns out 
there was document falsification and it casts doubt on USGS' 
conclusions, that could undercut the Energy Department's case for 
Yucca.

The USGS employees remained on the job Thursday as government 
investigators and outside scientists tried to determine the 
seriousness of the alleged falsifications.

"We don't know whether the science was actually compromised," said 
USGS spokeswoman A.B. Wade.

After a series of setbacks, the government already has backed off a 
planned 2010 completion date for its plan to bury the nation's 
nuclear waste in the Nevada desert.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. John Ensign, R-
Nev., sent letters to the FBI and Justice Department asking them to 
investigate and seize all Yucca records from government agencies. 
Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., asked Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman to 
appoint a third-party agency to investigate.

"It's very clear that the licensing is not going to be able to go 
forward in a timely manner," Reid said in an interview.

"We'll review their letters and respond appropriately," said Energy 
Department spokeswoman Anne Womack.

The potentially falsified documents were discovered by Bechtel SAIC 
employees working on contract for the Energy Department as it 
prepares its license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
to open the dump. DOE planned to submit the license application last 
year but missed that date and is now aiming for the end of 2005.

While using a sampling process to review several million e-mails, the 
contractors came across about 20 suspicious messages between May 1998 
and March 2000 from a hydrologist working with a team of 10 or more 
other scientists on Yucca water studies, Wade said.

The e-mails were from the hydrologist to his supervisor, and co-
workers were copied. The e-mails suggested the scientist was 
falsifying documents related to the study.

It wasn't clear whether the supervisor or other co-workers were 
actively engaged in the exchange, and the author of the e-mails is 
the focus of suspicion, Wade said.

She said a total of about 10 employees were privy to the e-mails and 
all but one still worked for USGS.
-----------------

NRC Says Vermont Yankee Plant, Despite Problems, Doing OK

VERNON, Vt. (AP)--The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant continues to 
earn passing grades.

The 2004 grades from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission come despite a 
year of problems that included misplacing two pieces of radioactive 
nuclear fuel, a fire and cracks in a steam dryer.

The lowest grade the plant received was in its emergency alert 
system. The low grade will earn Vermont Yankee additional inspections 
this year.

Plant opponents say they don't think the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission is being tough enough.

Plant officials and the NRC are planning to meet to discuss how to 
improve the notification issue.
----------------

Utah congressional delegation argues against nuclear waste facility

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Locating a nuclear waste facility on the 
Goshutes' reservation in Skull Valley, 50 miles southwest of Salt 
Lake City, would be dangerous because a pilot might crash into it 
accidentally or on purpose, Utah's congressional delegation argued.

Private Fuel Storage, a utility consortium, is seeking Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission approval to build a facility for the temporary 
storage of spent fuel rods from nuclear power plants on the land 
owned by the Goshutes' Skull Valley Band.

The five members of the Utah congressional delegation sent a letter 
to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday opposing granting a 
license to PFS.

As the state has argued in the past, the delegation said the site is 
under the flight path of Hill Air Force Base planes training in the 
Utah Test and Training Range. The planes sometimes carry live 
ordinance.

"Due to the possibility of an accidental or deliberate aircraft 
crash, concerns over the safety of the waste during transportation 
and storage, and uncertainty regarding liability, the Utah 
Congressional delegation strongly opposes the granting of this 
license," the delegation's letter said.

The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board held lengthy hearings on the 
safety aspects and ruled against the state's objections. The board 
concluded that even if an F-16 did crash into the site, it was not 
likely to result in radiological release.

Meanwhile, a group called Scientists for Secure Waste Storage wrote 
the White House this week in support of the proposed storage 
facility.

A cover letter by Martin S. Kaufman, senior vice president of 
Atlantic Legal Foundation, addressed issues including reducing 
America's dependence on foreign oil and respecting the Goshutes' 
position.

After seven years of proceedings, the board examined "all of the 
safety and environmental concerns put forward by the state of Utah" 
and determined a license should be issued, it said.

The letter, quoted by the Deseret Morning News, noted the recent 
White House visit by Utah's senators in opposition to the project.

"We urge that the administration not cave in to this political 
pressure, and allow the regulatory process to take its course," the 
letter said. "We note that the state of Utah has been an active and 
vigorous participant in that process, and should not now try to 
circumvent it."
------------------

Los Alamos Security Flap May Have Cost $367M - Official

WASHINGTON (AP)--Disruptions caused by last year's security flap at 
the Los Alamos weapons laboratory may have cost as much as $367 
million because activities were shifted away from the lab's normal 
work, members of Congress were told Friday.

The New Mexico facility, which is a center for U.S. nuclear weapons 
research, was virtually shut down last July after reports that two 
classified computer disks had disappeared. An investigation later 
determined they never existed. Some of the normal activities didn't 
resume until last month.

Linton Brooks, the Energy Department's undersecretary for nuclear 
security, told the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on 
investigations Friday that the $367 million figure "represents an 
upper limit" estimate of how much the security-related suspension may 
have cost the lab in lost or delayed activities.

The laboratory disagrees, putting the figure at $119 million. The 
Energy Department number includes tens of millions of dollars in 
indirect costs that shouldn't be attributed specifically to the work 
stoppage, according to Nanos.

Whatever the figure, "the costs are significant," said Rep. Ed 
Whitfield, R- Ky., the chairman of the investigations subcommittee.

The laboratory also disclosed Friday that the mystery about the disks 
might have been resolved quickly last summer if two employees hadn't 
falsified an inventory sheet showing the disks existed.

Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Peter Nanos said the 
inventory sheet was signed, though no inventory had been taken. The 
two individuals were fired, but when pressed at a House hearing about 
whether they should be criminally prosecuted, Nanos said that wasn't 
for him to decide.

During the so-called "stand-down" at the lab in New Mexico, thousands 
of employees were told to stop their normal work and join the search 
for the disks, undergo security training and undertake other safety- 
and security-related activities. Many of the workers returned to 
their normal duties after a month.

Several lawmakers questioned why the University of California, which 
manages the Los Alamos lab, shouldn't be charged for some of the 
costs since, they say, the work stoppage resulted from security 
failures related to poor management.

"The university was hired to do the job and they didn't do it," said 
Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore. He said letting the university off the hook 
was "outrageous."

But Brooks told the panel that in all likelihood the government would 
absorb the costs because activities related to the work suspension 
were covered by the Energy Department's contract with the university.

Nanos strongly defended the decision to suspend laboratory operations 
as " absolutely the right thing to do" and said the cost shouldn't be 
viewed as lost money. During the stand-down more than 3,000 issues 
were found that raised safety or security concerns.

Nanos said the redirected dollars were an investment in the lab 
because the funds were refocused toward safety, security and 
compliance activities.

However, if the government were to determine the spending wasn't 
covered under its contract, the university would lose tens of 
millions of dollars it had expected to receive from the government 
under its contract.

Earlier this year, the Energy Department penalized the university 
$5.8 million because of the debacle surrounding the allegedly lost 
computer disks and other security and safety concerns at Los Alamos.

On a broader security issue, Brooks told the subcommittee that it 
will not be until fall 2008 that he expects the Energy Department's 
nuclear sites to meet the more stringent security levels demanded in 
a post-Sept. 11 era of heightened terror risks.

The tougher requirements were issued last October and the department 
previously had said implementation would take several years. Brooks 
said facilities where nuclear material is kept must submit by July 
implementation plans and a list of resource requirements to meet the 
new standards.

"Almost certainly additional resources will be required" to meet the 
new standard, he said, but it's too early to determine how costly the 
security improvements will be.

While there have been "significant security problems" at Los Alamos 
and some other sites where nuclear materials are kept, Brooks told 
the subcommittee "none of the vital national security assets - 
nuclear weapons, special nuclear material or classified material - 
are at risk anywhere within the nuclear weapons complex."

A watchdog group, the Project on Government Oversight, testified that 
some facilities such as Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories in 
California are unlikely to be able to meet the tougher standards and 
that the nuclear material, including plutonium, should be moved to a 
safer location.

Livermore officials have said they expect to be able to meet the new 
requirements.
----------------

Mining companies move to reopen Utah uranium ore processing mill

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Two Wyoming mining companies have filed a 
request with the state of Utah to reopen a uranium ore processing 
mill shuttered since the early 1980s.

The request from U.S. Energy Corp. and its partner, Crested Corp., 
comes as uranium prices register higher than they've been in decades. 
The mill in question is Shootering Canyon, about 15 miles north of 
Lake Powell near Ticaboo.

The Shootering mill is the last and most modern uranium mill built in 
the United States, U.S. Energy spokesman Don Warfield said. It is one 
of only four uranium mills left in the country, and only two of those 
are now operating.

U.S. Energy, which owns nearby uranium mining acreage, expects to 
eventually mine that property to provide feedstock for the mill. The 
company, however, estimates it could take up to two years to secure 
the necessary permits to reopen the mill, which operated only a few 
months after construction was completed in 1982.

The companies estimate it will cost about $25 million to make the 
mill operational. They hope to arrange financing while the license 
application is processed by the Division of Radiation Control, which 
is part of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality.

Uranium is selling above $21 per pound. It sold as low as $7.50 per 
pound in 2001.

The surge is occurring because some are concerned uranium supplies 
for power plants worldwide may be within a decade of outstripping 
existing supplies.

U.S. Energy's proposal, though, is not without critics.

"It is just a bad idea to restart a mill to provide more fuel for 
existing nuclear powerhouses," said Sarah Fields, chairwoman of the 
Nuclear Waste Committee of the Utah Sierra Club's Glen Canyon Group. 
"We still don't have a solution to the spent fuel problem, and we're 
still dealing with the waste from all the other mills."

Uranium mining boomed in Utah after miner Charles Steen in 1952 
struck a deep bed of ore near Moab.

By 1955, the year the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission announced a 
cooperative program between the federal government and the nuclear 
power industry to develop power plants, there were approximately 800 
mines operating in the region. The industry collapsed in 1962.
---------------

Nuclear testing resolution signed by Huntsman

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Gov. Jon Huntsman Thursday signed a resolution 
urging Congress not to resume the testing of nuclear weapons at the 
Nevada Test Site.

Huntsman signed the bill in Kanab, one of many southern Utah 
communities where fallout from mushroom clouds produced by detonated 
nuclear munitions rained down. After exposure to the radioactive 
dust, a generation of Utah residents were christened "downwinders" - 
having suffered severe illness and even death.

Testing at the site north of Las Vegas began in January 1951 with the 
detonation of a one-kiloton bomb dropped from an airplane in an area 
known as Frenchman's Flat.

The tests continued through 1984, according to the resolution, and 
the U.S. Department of Energy later admitted that fallout from at 
least 45 of 515 weapons released radioactivity outside of the testing 
area.

Sponsored by state Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, and passed overwhelmingly 
by both houses of the Utah Legislature, the resolution reminds 
Congress that the state doesn't want to relive history.

"A resumption of nuclear testing at the Federal Government's Nevada 
Test Site would mean a return to the mistakes and miscalculations of 
the past which have marred many Utahns," the resolution reads.

Testing "essentially means the creation of a new generation of 
downwinders" and "would verify the axiom that those who fail to learn 
from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them," the 
resolution states.

But Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, supports the resumption of tests for 
reasons of national defense, even though his father is counted among 
downwinders and died from Leukemia.

"I have consistently maintained that it would be unwise to foreclose 
the option of ensuring that our nuclear weapons are - in fact - 
functional," Cannon said in a statement Thursday. "In these dangerous 
times, it is essential that America's strength be clear and 
appropriately safe testing may be a necessary part of maintaining our 
national defense."

Cannon spokesman Charles Isom said he knows of no immediate plans for 
either the departments of defense or energy to resume nuclear tests.

Huntsman's general counsel Mike Lee, who attended the signing at 
Kanab High School Thursday, said the governor appreciates concerns 
for national defense, but that there should be ways to execute 
weapons testing without risking public health and safety.
----------------

Correction: Seabrook - NRC

SEABROOK, N.H., (AP) - In a March 16 story about the Seabrook nuclear 
power plant, The Associated Press erroneously reported that the 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission expressed concern about cost-cutting 
measures related to identifying potential safety problems. Instead, 
the commission expressed concern over "cross-cutting" measures, the 
ability to identify and fix problems across three areas - reactor 
safety, radiation safety and safeguards. The issue will be reviewed 
this summer.
---------------

State regulators approve Kewaunee nuclear power plant sale

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - State regulators reversed course Thursday, 
unanimously approving the sale of the Kewaunee nuclear power plant to 
a Virginia energy company after earlier rejecting the deal because 
they feared they could lose authority over the facility in the 
future.

The Public Service Commission voted 3-0 to approve the sale, with 
members saying they were confident changes in terms of the deal would 
assure them some say over the future of the plant, which sits along 
Lake Michigan.

The commission also had been concerned the original terms of the deal 
could have led to the storage of out-of-state nuclear waste at the 
facility.

But commission chairwoman Burnie Bridge said the new deal allays 
those concerns and improves the results for customers. The deal 
refunds $193 million to ratepayers and lets them off the hook for 
costs when problems shut down the facility.

"I do consider the sale to be in the economic interest of Wisconsin 
customers," Bridge said.

Under the deal, Richmond, Va.-based Dominion Resources Inc. will pay 
$220 million to buy the nuclear plant from Wisconsin Power and Light 
Co. and Wisconsin Public Service Corp. The Virginia company then will 
sell energy back to the two Wisconsin utilities through at least 
2013.

The deal calls for Dominion to pledge not to store out-of-state 
nuclear waste at the facility and clean up any contamination once it 
dismantles the plant. Kewaunee's license to operate expires in 2013, 
though the plant could get an extension.

Ratepayers have been putting money into two funds to cover costs to 
decommission the plant. They would receive $193 million of that 
money. The remaining $400 million would go to Dominion to cover those 
future costs. Once the decommissioning is complete, the company would 
have to return any remaining money to ratepayers.

Under the new deal, Dominion also agreed to increase the amount it 
pledged to pay the two utilities if it cannot provide the power 
promised under the agreement.

Charlie Higley, executive director of the consumer advocacy group 
Citizens Utility Board, said the deal could come back to haunt 
Wisconsin should Dominion decide to sell the plant to someone else.

The utilities and the PSC insist the way the new deal is structured, 
the PSC would have input on any future sale of the plant. But Higley 
and his board's lawyers contend that is not true, meaning any future 
buyer could ignore all the conditions in the deal with Dominion.

"If Dominion chooses to comply to walk away from commitments, there 
would be no ability by the commission to take legal action to force 
them to comply," Higley said.

The plant, one of two nuclear power plants in Wisconsin, started 
running in 1974. It generates 4 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity 
annually, enough to power the Green Bay metropolitan area as well as 
homes in outlying Brown, Door, Kewaunee and Marinette counties.

Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers of energy with 
about 28,100 megawatts of electric power transmitted over more than 
6,000 miles of transmission lines. It serves more than 5 million 
customers in eight states, according to the company's Web site.

Rick Zuercher, a Dominion spokesman on nuclear affairs, said the 
company was pleased with the PSC decision but was withholding comment 
until the commission delivered its written report on Thursday's 
decision, which is expected in several weeks.

The Wisconsin utilities issued a joint statement praising the sale.
------------------

US Court Revives Lawsuit Against Cell Phone Industry

RICHMOND, Va. (AP)--A divided federal appeals court on Wednesday 
reinstated five lawsuits claiming that the cell phone industry has 
failed to protect consumers from unsafe levels of radiation.

The class-action lawsuits seek to force cell phone manufacturers to 
provide headsets, which they say could reduce risks of brain tumors. 
They also seek punitive damages.

The lawsuits originally were filed in state courts in Maryland, 
Pennsylvania, New York, Georgia and Louisiana but were consolidated 
and transferred to federal court in Baltimore.

Judge Catherine Blake dismissed the lawsuits last March, ruling that 
federal standards regulating wireless phones -including uniform 
national limits on radiation emissions -pre-empt the state law 
claims.

A panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Blake's 
ruling in a 2-1 decision. Four of the cases were returned to state 
courts and one to federal district court for further proceedings.

Several studies have found no adverse health effects from cell 
phones.

Among plaintiffs' claims were that the industry's actions violated 
various state laws on consumer protection, product liability, implied 
warranty, negligence, fraud and civil conspiracy.

"We have thoroughly examined the claims ... and one thing is clear: 
the elements of each of the claims depend only on the resolution of 
questions of state law," Judge M. Blane Michael wrote in the majority 
opinion, which was joined by Judge Michael Luttig.

Judge Jackson L. Kiser dissented, saying the claims require the 
courts to explore the adequacy of the Federal Communications 
Commission's radiation emission standards.

"It is well-settled that a suit to invalidate a federal regulation 
arises under federal law," Kiser wrote. "... This thinly disguised 
attack on the validity of the FCC standards raises a substantial 
federal question."

Neither Michael R. Allweiss, lawyer for the plaintiffs, nor cell 
phone industry attorney Kenneth W. Starr immediately returned phone 
calls seeking comment.
----------------

Radiologists Tell House Committee Unnecessary and Inferior Medical 
Imaging Lowers Quality of Care and Costs Taxpayers Billions of 
Dollars

WASHINGTON, March 17 /PRNewswire/ -- The overuse of medical imaging 
procedures by less qualified providers lowers the quality of patient 
care, undermines patient safety, threatens the solvency of Medicare, 
and drains the American health care system of billions of dollars 
annually, the chairman of the American College of Radiology (ACR) 
told the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health today.

Dr. James Borgstede, Chairman of the ACR Board of Chancellors told 
the Subcommittee that ACR supports many of the recent Medicare 
Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) recommendations because current 
law is not effectively addressing a problem that is both damaging 
patient care and fleecing American taxpayers.

"We are deeply concerned by the exponential growth in office-based 
imaging by those who may lack the education, training, equipment and 
clinical personnel to safely and effectively use these studies to 
better their patients' health." Borgstede said. "The real harm is 
excessive exams and unnecessary exposure to radiation leading to a 
missed diagnosis, which can result in additional patient injury or 
even patient death."

Diagnostic radiologists are medical doctors who are required to 
complete a minimum of four to six years of post medical school 
education in all aspects of medical imaging, including formal 
training in advanced physics and radiation safety. Other medical 
specialties, currently performing medical imaging, require a range of 
imaging education; from as little as two days to a maximum of ten 
months.

Borgstede also addressed the point that non-radiologist doctors now 
perform more than half of all non-hospital imaging in the United 
States. Non- radiologists, who own imaging equipment, are up to seven 
times more likely to order diagnostic tests than those who refer 
patients to a facility in which they have no financial interest.

Diagnostic imaging is now a $100 billion industry in the United 
States. Imaging is the fastest growing type of physician service 
expenditure in the United States, with an annual growth rate nine 
percent that is three times that of other physician services.

"Unaccredited, non-radiologist imaging facilities may use poor, 
perhaps malfunctioning equipment, and employ poorly trained 
technologists," Borgstede said. "This raises material radiation 
safety concerns even though the adverse effects of these quality 
problems may not show up in the form of increased cancer risk, for 
decades."

Another major concern for ACR is that poor images taken by lesser- 
qualified personnel on suboptimal machines can have more of an 
immediate impact on patient care in terms of increased false 
positives, which further drain the health system to pursue non-
existent problems and increased false negatives, where missed 
diagnoses can delay or prevent timely treatment.

"Given the likelihood that Medicare spending on the highest-cost 
modalities (CT, MRI, PET) may approach $100 billion over the next ten 
years, deterring just five percent of projected spending would 
represent a substantial savings to Medicare and improve care," 
Borgstede said.

As part of his testimony, Borgstede cited Medicare records that show 
imaging use by non-radiologists skyrocketed from 1998 to 2003. In 
Alabama and Ohio, for instance, in-office imaging among non-
radiologists was up more than 3,000 percent -- thirty times the 
national average by all providers during that span.

Other examples include Arizona where imaging by non-radiologists is 
up as much 1,317 percent -- or ten times the national average. In 
Georgia, it's up 503 percent; Louisiana, up 852 percent; Minnesota, 
up 442 percent; and in Texas, up 1,630 percent.

Medicare data further shows that this disturbing trend is not merely 
a shift in site of service. Imaging (measured in both number of 
procedures and dollars per 1000 beneficiaries) has increased 
significantly in both hospital and office settings since 2000.

Borgstede also noted that inappropriate utilization of medical 
imaging procedures is a primary driver in escalating insurance costs. 
Premiums for family health care coverage have risen 59 percent since 
2000, compared with inflation growth of only nine percent. American 
businesses spend, on average, nearly $10,000 per employee for family 
health care coverage.

"Private insurers who have looked into this issue found a disturbing 
trend and took steps to clamp down on the practice," Borgstede said. 
"A recent Blue-Cross/Blue Shield study shows nearly a third of 
imaging performed by non- radiologists to be unnecessary and another 
well regarded study shows that number to be as high as 50 percent! 
Unnecessary tests, by definition, may needlessly expose patients to 
radiation."

The ACR supports many of the MedPAC recommendations that urge 
Congress to enact laws directing the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services (HHS) to set quality and safety standards for providers 
performing medical imaging, physicians interpreting these images, and 
facilities that bill Medicare for these services.

The ACR also supports the Commission's recommendation that Congress 
includes nuclear medicine and PET procedures under existing federal 
self- referral (Stark) law and tightens other aspects of Stark law 
dealing with physician ownership.

"The ACR believes this emerging quality problems are the proper focus 
of policymakers concerned about rising imaging costs. Office-based 
expansions have been inaccurately justified by such claims as 
'patient convenience,' yet, convenient access to poor quality or 
unnecessary services is hardly a patient benefit. Also, Medicare 
billing data shows that only 3-percent of imaging procedures done by 
nonradiologists are billed on the same claim," Borgstede said. "For 
these reasons, the ACR supports many of the MedPAC recommendations 
that Congress link Medicare reimbursement for imaging services to 
quality, safety, and training standards for the physicians and 
facilities which provide these services."
-------------------

HHS Awards BioShield Contract for Liquid Potassium Iodide

WASHINGTON, March 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The Department of Health and 
Human Services today awarded a $5.7 million contract to Fleming & 
Company, Pharmaceuticals of Fenton, Mo. for the manufacture and 
delivery of 1.7 million pediatric doses of liquid potassium iodide 
(KI). This supply of liquid KI, which is being purchased under the 
BioShield program, would be used in the event of a release of 
radioactive iodine, a commonly produced material in commercial 
nuclear power facilities.

The liquid KI formulation is the first to be developed specifically 
for children. Its black raspberry taste is designed to make it more 
palatable to children. Current adult dose tablets are bitter and must 
be broken into pieces to get a child's dose. The new formulation is 
delivered using a graduated eyedropper.

"The acquisition of this new and easy-to-administer pediatric KI 
formulation is an important step forward for our nation's 
radiological preparedness program," Assistant Secretary for Public 
Health Emergency Preparedness Stewart Simonson, said.

Because the thyroid gland rapidly absorbs any iodine in the body, 
people need to take KI soon after an incident that involves the 
release of radioactive iodine, such as could occur in the vicinity of 
a nuclear commercial power facility. The KI saturates the thyroid 
gland with iodine, thus preventing the thyroid from absorbing 
additional, radioactive iodine. However, KI does not prevent the 
effects of any other radioactive elements.

Approval of the liquid KI as a pediatric formulation was given last 
year by the Interagency Weapons of Mass Destruction Medical 
Countermeasures Subcommittee. Children are the most susceptible to 
the dangerous effects of radioactive iodine.

Once it is delivered to HHS, the pediatric KI will be made available 
to states that submit and receive approval from HHS for plans they 
develop to distribute the new product in communities around 
commercial nuclear power plants.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved KI in tablet form 
as a nonprescription drug for use as a "blocking agent" to prevent 
the human thyroid gland from absorbing radioactive iodine. On Jan. 
12, 2005, the FDA granted approval to Fleming for their product 
ThyroShield(TM) (Potassium Iodide Oral Solution, USP) 65 mg/ml for 
children.

----------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle 
Senior Vice President, Technical Operations 
Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc. 
2652 McGaw Avenue
Irvine, CA 92614

Tel: (949) 296-2306 / (888) 437-1714 Extension 2306 
Fax:(949) 296-1144

Global Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/ 
Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/