Residents turn out to get free potassium iodide pills in case of nuclear disaster

Nov 21 - York Daily Record (PA)

It's a situation most people would rather not think about: a radiological disaster.

But with Peach Bottom Atomic Power Plant in southern York County and Three Mile Island nearby in Dauphin County , some York countians came out Thursday to get pills that would help protect them in case of a nuclear emergency.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health distributed the pills Thursday at designated locations in Delta , East Drumore Township , Fairview Township , Hummelstown and Lower Swatara Township .

Neil Sheehan , Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman, said the national potassium iodide distribution program began in 2001 as a way "to supplement sheltering and evacuation in the unlikely event of a severe nuclear power plant accident."

Sheehan said the NRC funds the procurement of the tablets, and the NRC itself gets most of its funding from fees they charge the nuclear power plant operators.

"We fund and acquire the potassium iodide tablets, provide those pills to the state, and then the states determine the best way to either distribute them or stockpile them," Sheehan said.

Dr. Glenda Cardillo , Pennsylvania Department of Health public health physician, said Pennsylvania's approach is to make the pills available to those who want them, giving preference to those who live or work within a 10 mile radius of a nuclear plant.

In an emergency situation, Cardillo said the governor would advise residents to consume the pills and evacuate the area.

The pills, Cardillo emphasized, are not a cure-all, but are proven to block the thyroid from absorbing cancer-causing radioactive iodine.

"The thyroid gland is a gland in the neck that is like a sponge," Cardillo said. "Taking the potassium iodide pill protects the thyroid from absorbing the radioactive iodine."

Sheehan said that no U.S. emergency has ever prompted a state to advise that residents ingest the tablets. However, potassium iodide's effectiveness in lowering thyroid cancer risk has been proven in research and in case studies.

"Probably the most widely known case would be after Chernobyl," Sheehan said, referring to the 1986 reactor meltdown in what was then the Soviet Union . "Countries that did have residents take potassium iodide tablets saw a lower incidence of thyroid cancer."

Pennie Bohl of New Cumberland came to the Fairview Township Fire Station to pick up the tablets for herself, her husband and two neighbors.

"It's a little reassurance if something does happen," said Bohl, who has lived within 10 miles of Three Mile Island for the last 48 years.

Paula Williams of Lemoyne traveled with Bohl to pick up tablets for her and her husband. Williams and Bohl both remembered the panic in Middletown on March 28, 1979 , when one of the Three Mile Island reactors had a partial meltdown.

"Those of us who lived through it believe that it could happen," Williams said.

Carl Meiss , who picked up pills at the fire station for him and his wife, also remembered the TMI meltdown: Meiss had just bought his house in Newberry Township and was moving in that day.

"My wife was a nurse; I was a cop," Meiss said. "So we both stayed."

Meiss said he doesn't get much comfort from having the pills, but at least they were tested and recommended by the medical community.

"Whether they do anything or not?" Meiss said. "Ask me after the fact."

Not too late to pick them up

Eligible residents can also pick up potassium iodide tablets at county and municipal health departments or state health centers.

For more information, contact the Pennsylvania Department of Health at 1-877-PA-HEALTH (1-877-724-3258).

Also of interest

Are we ready? Nuclear emergency plans in York County

TMI 35 years later: residents were 'unwilling participants'

NRC ups enforcement of Peach Bottom nuclear plant after violation

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