PR-98-109 -Reply

[Jim Hardeman <Jim_Hardeman@MAIL.DNR.STATE.GA.US>]

I thought y'all might be interested in the following:

Jim Hardeman, Manager
Environmental Radiation Program
Environmental Protection Division
Georgia Department of Natural Resources
4244 International Parkway, Suite 114
Atlanta, GA 30354
(404) 362-2675  fax: (404) 362-2653
Jim_Hardeman@mail.dnr.state.ga.us


>>> Public Affairs <OPALIST@nrc.gov> 07/01/98
15:54 >>>

------------------- 98-109.TXT follows -------------------

           United States Nuclear Regulatory
Commission
                     Office of Public Affairs
                       Washington, DC 20555
              Phone 301-415-8200   Fax 301-415-2234
                       Internet:opa@nrc.gov
                                 
No.  98-109                                  FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
                                        (Wednesday, July 1, 1998)


           NRC GRANTS PETITION TO REQUIRE
CONSIDERATION
         OF USE OF POTASSIUM IODIDE IN
EMERGENCY RESPONSE


     The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has
decided to grant a petition requesting that the
agency amend its emergency planning regulations. 
The change would require that, as each
state develops the range of protective actions,
consideration be given, as a supplement to
evacuation and sheltering, to the use of potassium
iodide, as appropriate.

     Potassium iodide, if taken in time, blocks the
thyroid gland's uptake of radioactive iodine
and thus could help prevent reduce thyroid cancers
and other diseases that might otherwise be
caused by exposure to airborne radioactive iodine
that could be dispersed in a nuclear accident.

     This action is not taken because of any new
insights about risks associated with
operating nuclear power plants licensed in the
United States, but rather in recognition of the
European experience during and following the
Chernobyl accident.  Some states may find the
use of potassium iodide appropriate as a
supplemental protective action under certain local
conditions.

     The petition was filed by Peter G.  Crane, an
NRC staff attorney who took the action as a
private citizen.

     The NRC staff will now proceed to develop
proposed revisions to its regulations to
implement the Commission's decision.  In a June
26 memorandum to its staff, the Commission
said the explanatory text for the proposed rule
changes should include a statement to the effect
that state and local decision makers, provided with
proper information, may find that the use of
potassium iodide as a protective supplement is
"reasonable and prudent" for specific local
conditions.

     To assist state and local decision makers, an
NRC staff-developed paper, "Assessment
of the Use of Potassium Iodide (KI) as a Public
Protective Action During Severe Reactor
Accidents," will be issued for public comment and
may be submitted to scientific journals for
publication.  The NRC staff will also issue a
brochure containing clear, definitive information to
help state and local planners reach an informed
decision as to whether potassium iodide is an
appropriate protective supplement for them. 

     The current federal policy on potassium iodide,
which was published in 1985, 
recommends that it be stockpiled and distributed to
emergency workers and institutionalized
persons during radiological emergencies.  It does
not recommend requiring pre-distribution or
stockpiling for the general public.

     In July of last year, the NRC voted to endorse the
draft federal policy on potassium iodide
being considered by the Federal Radiological
Preparedness Coordinating Committee.  (The
FRPCC is the coordinating body in charge of
federal policy on emergency planning around
nuclear power plants.)  That policy offered to fund
the purchase of potassium iodide for states at
their request.  The Commission noted that the
federal government is stockpiling potassium
iodide, near major metropolitan areas, for use in
mitigating the consequences of potential
terrorist use of nuclear, biological or chemical
weapons.

     In its June 26 memorandum, the Commission
directed its staff to work with other relevant
agencies to ensure that there are established
procedures to enable the national stockpile of
potassium iodide to be effectively used by states
that wish to draw from the national supply in
the event of a severe nuclear power plant accident.

     This potassium iodide would be available to any
state for any type of radiological
emergency at any time.  If a state wished to have its
source of potassium iodide close at hand,
the federal government would fund the purchase.  


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