Officials Mull Anti-Radiation Pill

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Wednesday March 17 3:12 AM ET 

Officials Mull Anti-Radiation Pill

WASHINGTON (AP) - It seems so simple, handing out pills to 
people living near nuclear power plants to prevent thyroid cancer. 
But 20 years after potassium iodide was touted as a radiation 
therapy in the wake of the Three Mile Island accident, it remains 
controversial for states considering its use.  

``You don't just give out drugs to everybody and let them keep 
them in their house,'' said Mark Leccese, spokesman for the 
Massachusetts Department of Public Health, which opposes the 
drug despite a federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
recommendation that states consider its use in their emergency 
planning.  

The drug would protect the thyroid by blocking its absorption of 
radioactive iodine.

After the 1978 accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power 
plant in Pennsylvania, a presidential commission strongly 
recommended the stockpiling of potassium iodide near all U.S. 
reactor sites.  

But in 1985, the NRC concluded that stockpiling was not 
worthwhile, although agency staff at the time estimated the cost at 
about 10 cents per year for each of the nearly 800,000 people that 
potentially would be protected. The drug was recommended only 
for emergency workers and institutionalized people who couldn't be 
moved to safety quickly.  

Last year, the NRC reversed that policy on the strength of evidence 
that the drug reduced the incidence of thyroid cancer among 
children in areas of Poland following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear 
accident in Ukraine.  

Now, a federal committee is working to develop a brochure by 
October to guide the states' decision-making. Currently only
Alabama, Arizona and Tennessee stockpile the drug.

``I don't expect an accident,'' said Tony Sheridan, a committee 
member and first selectman of Waterford, Conn., home of the 
Millstone plant. ``But there are people who are anxious about it. 
There are people who are anxious about getting the flu, so they go 
out and get a flu shot. So they have a right to have it available.''  

While leaving the final decision to state and local officials, the NRC 
concluded that it was ``reasonable and prudent'' to stockpile the 
drug near reactor sites. It offered to pay for it or, in some cases, 
make it available from an existing federal supply.  

The nuclear power industry, hesitant to heighten public concern 
about the likelihood of an accident, has opposed stockpiling. 
Industry officials say such programs are costly, confusing and 
probably would not get the pills to people in time to do any good.  

Even supporters take a cautious approach.

For one, there is concern that people in a nuclear accident zone 
would be slow to leave if they assumed - wrongly - that the
drug offered broad protection against radiation's harmful effects.

In fact, the drug would protect only the thyroid from one type of 
radiation and would benefit infants, children and pregnant women 
the most. It is not intended as a replacement for evacuation and 
sheltering.  

``There's some worry that people will think, 'I can take this magic 
radiation pill and stay home,''' said Joelle Key, a health physicist 
with the state division of radiological health in Tennessee, where 
the Tennessee Valley Authority (NYSE:TVA - news) operates three 
nuclear power plants.  

In 1981, Tennessee officials reached two-thirds of households with 
a door-to-door distribution. But the most recent call to replace old 
pills with fresher ones had just a 15 percent response.  

Officials also don't want to increase people's exposure to all types 
of radiation by requiring them to stay in a contaminated area any 
longer than necessary.  

``Should they go get the pill and then leave?'' said Ed Wilds, 
director of Connecticut's Department of Environmental Protection 
radiation division and a committee member. ``Those questions can 
only be addressed by looking at the specific situation you're in.''  

The Food and Drug Administration also is reviewing its 1982 policy 
on dosage. That called for everyone, except children under 1, to 
take a three- to seven-day course of tablets, each delivering 130 
milligrams of potassium iodide. Children under 1 would get half a 
tablet.  

Those guidelines differ from a World Health Organization draft that 
recommended smaller doses for young children, down to 16 
milligrams for newborns.  

Details aside, supporters insist that people have a right to the drug. 
In Connecticut, hundreds have signed petitions supporting a two-
year trial in three towns near the Millstone plant.  

``It's like having a seat belt in your car,'' said Mark Holloway, a 
member of Connecticut's Nuclear Energy Advisory Council,  
which recommended the trial.

Sandy Perle
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 
Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205

"The object of opening the mind, as of opening 
the mouth, is to close it again on something solid"
              - G. K. Chesterton -
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