WTNH News Channel 8 / News / 1999

	Officials Weigh Costs and Benefits Anti-Radiation Pill (Washington-AP)_In 1981, workers went door to door handing out small pills to people living near an eastern Tennessee nuclear plant. The drug, potassium iodide, reached about two-thirds of the households within five miles of the Sequoyah plant. But far fewer folks, just 15% in 1996, have answered more recent calls to replace their old pills with fresher ones. And now states such as Connecticut, where hundreds of thousands of people live in the figurative shadow of the Millstone nuclear power plants, are waiting for guidance from the federal government on using potassium iodide to prevent thyroid cancer and other disease in the event of a nuclear disaster. The federal committee, which hopes to develop a brochure by October, grew out of last year's US Nuclear Regulatory Commission recommendation that states consider using the drug, along with evacuation and sheltering, as part of their emergency planning. Currently only Alabama, Arizona and Tennessee stockpile the drug. Fueled by evidence that potassium iodide reduced the incidence of thyroid cancer among children in parts of Poland following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident, the NRC reversed a 1985 federal policy that the drug be given only to emergency workers and institutionalized people who couldn't be quickly evacuated. While leaving the final decision to state and local officials, the NRC concluded that it was "reasonable and prudent" to stockpile potassium iodide pills near reactor sites. It also offered to pay for the drug or, in some cases, make it available from an existing federal supply. "I don't expect an accident," said Tony Sheridan, a committee member and first selectman of Waterford, 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." 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 evacuate if they assumed, wrongly, that the drug offers broad protection against radiation's harmful effects. In fact, the drug would protect only the thyroid gland. Infants, children and pregnant women, who are most susceptible to radioactive iodine, stand to benefit the most. "There's some worry that people will think, 'I can take this magic radiation pill and stay home,"' said Key. Officials also don't want to increase people's exposure to other 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?" asked 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," said Wilds, who also sits on a state panel that has recommended a potassium iodide trial in three towns, East Lyme, New London and Waterford, near Millstone. The US Food and Drug Administration is also 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 recent World Health Organization draft that recommended smaller doses for children, down to 16 milligrams for newborns. The FDA, if it embraced that approach, would also need to resolve whether the small tablets could be carved up into tiny segments or offered in another form for smaller doses. Bigger pills may contain fillers that could shorten the drug's 5 year shelf life. Details aside, supporters insist that people have a right to the drug. In Connecticut, hundreds have signed petitions supporting the Millstone trial. "We want people to have a choice," said Mark Holloway, a member of Connecticut's Nuclear Energy Advisory Council, which recommended the trial. "It's like having a seat belt in your car." Today's News Page. WTNH Home Page. ©1999 WTNH/WTNH-DT A LIN station.

Officials Weigh Costs and Benefits Anti-Radiation Pill
(Washington-AP)_In 1981, workers went door to door handing out small pills to people living near an eastern Tennessee nuclear plant.

The drug, potassium iodide, reached about two-thirds of the households within five miles of the Sequoyah plant. But far fewer folks, just 15% in 1996, have answered more recent calls to replace their old pills with fresher ones.

And now states such as Connecticut, where hundreds of thousands of people live in the figurative shadow of the Millstone nuclear power plants, are waiting for guidance from the federal government on using potassium iodide to prevent thyroid cancer and other disease in the event of a nuclear disaster.

The federal committee, which hopes to develop a brochure by October, grew out of last year's US Nuclear Regulatory Commission recommendation that states consider using the drug, along with evacuation and sheltering, as part of their emergency planning.

Currently only Alabama, Arizona and Tennessee stockpile the drug.

Fueled by evidence that potassium iodide reduced the incidence of thyroid cancer among children in parts of Poland following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident, the NRC reversed a 1985 federal policy that the drug be given only to emergency workers and institutionalized people who couldn't be quickly evacuated.

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

"I don't expect an accident," said Tony Sheridan, a committee member and first selectman of Waterford, 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."

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 evacuate if they assumed, wrongly, that the drug offers broad protection against radiation's harmful effects.

In fact, the drug would protect only the thyroid gland. Infants, children and pregnant women, who are most susceptible to radioactive iodine, stand to benefit the most.

"There's some worry that people will think, 'I can take this magic radiation pill and stay home,"' said Key.

Officials also don't want to increase people's exposure to other 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?" asked 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," said Wilds, who also sits on a state panel that has recommended a potassium iodide trial in three towns, East Lyme, New London and Waterford, near Millstone.

The US Food and Drug Administration is also 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 recent World Health Organization draft that recommended smaller doses for children, down to 16 milligrams for newborns.

The FDA, if it embraced that approach, would also need to resolve whether the small tablets could be carved up into tiny segments or offered in another form for smaller doses. Bigger pills may contain fillers that could shorten the drug's 5 year shelf life.

Details aside, supporters insist that people have a right to the drug. In Connecticut, hundreds have signed petitions supporting the Millstone trial.

"We want people to have a choice," said Mark Holloway, a member of Connecticut's Nuclear Energy Advisory Council, which recommended the trial. "It's like having a seat belt in your car."

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