The Nuclear Power Industry?s Historic Delay for Civilian Protection
On December 10, 2001 the United States Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) renewed its call for the widespread stockpiling of a thyroid-blocking
medicine that prevents the absorption of radioactive iodine. Following
the FDA announcement the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
ended its long-standing debate over the civilian stockpiling of potassium
iodide (KI). The NRC declared that it will fund civilian supplies for one
to two doses per individual for persons within the current 10-mile emergency
planning zone of every nuclear power station in the US. The American
Thyroid Association had also urged the federal government to distribute
KI with a particular focus on the vulnerability of children?s thyroid glands
caught downwind of a radioactive iodine release from a nuclear power plant
accident or sabotage. The nuclear industry and the NRC had previously argued
against KI distribution saying it would be too hard to administrate and
hinder more practical civilian evacuations in the event of an accident.
In the wake of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and NRC revised
their policy directing states to consider KI stockpiling and distribution.
In December 1978, the FDA first announced that it had determined that
KI was safe and effective as a thyroid protection medicine in the event
of a nuclear accident. At that time the agency was essentially ignored
by NRC and FEMA neither of which took action to make KI publicly available.
Three months following the FDA recommendation the Three Mile Island nuclear
generating station had a core melt accident on March 28, 1979. On March
30, 1979 an FDA official arranged an emergency purchase order to Mallinckrodt
Chemical Company for the immediate production of 250,000 doses of potassium
iodide to begin distribution in Pennsylvania 24 hours later. It was
President Carter?s ?Kemeny Commission? investigation into the aftermath
of TMI that was first critical of the NRC?s failure to take precautionary
action by distributing adequate supplies of the thyroid protection medicine.
The nuclear power industry would successfully lobby the NRC and FEMA against
KI distribution for another 23 years to prevent a nationwide thyroid protection
plan. Today, state governments are only beginning to implement a new NRC/FEMA
guidance plan for KI distribution.
The government foot dragging stems more from nuclear industry?s concerted
effort to protect its ?safe power? image than protect the American public
from a potential accident. Following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power accident
in Ukraine, the Polish government was prepared to distribute KI to millions
of Poland?s children with apparent success in reducing the number of thyroid
cancers and abnormalities that now plague other less fortunate populations
in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine not afforded the medical protection.
While every nuclear power plant operator in the United States has stockpiled
enough KI for its employees and emergency workers entire communities including
children in our homes, daycare centers and schools are being denied the
same level of immediate protection.
How KI Protects The Thyroid Gland From Radioactive Iodine Releases
The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland that sits at the base
of the neck. While especially important to children for producing growth
hormone, the thyroid gland also produces hormones which influence essentially
every organ, every tissue and every cell in the body regulating the body’s
metabolism and organ function, affecting heart rate, cholesterol level,
body weight, energy level, muscle strength, skin condition, menstrual regularity,
memory and many other conditions. To make thyroid hormone, the thyroid
gland uses dietary iodine and supplements in salt, water and other sources.
Radioactive Iodine-131 generated in nuclear power plants is a
major human health concern in an airborne release from a damaged reactor
because its mobility and radioactivity, having an 8 day half-life. Radioactive
iodine is quickly absorbed and concentrated by the thyroid. Researchers
have consistently reported that children who were exposed to radiation
from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster are developing an aggressive
form of thyroid cancer sooner and in larger numbers than expected. Children
are particularly susceptible to thyroid cancer from radioactive iodine
because their thyroid glands are small and concentrate the iodine from
radioactive fallout because they drink more milk and get larger doses of
radioactive iodine and because their thyroids are thought to be more vulnerable
to radiation.
Potassium iodide, if taken prior to the passage of the radioactive
plume, saturates the thyroid gland with non-radioactive iodine and blocks
the uptake of radioactive iodine so that it can be excreted. Prophylactic
doses of KI can thus prevent thyroid cancers and other thyroid diseases
that might otherwise be caused by exposure to radioactive iodine dispersed
in a severe nuclear accident or sabotage. While KI is considered
by the FDA to be safe and effective enough for over-the-counter distribution,
the necessary dosage levels and duration of KI uptake are still considered
a medicine by the American Thyroid Association and people are advised to
consult a physician and pediatrician for appropriate dosages.
Potassium Iodide Does Not Protect Against All Radiation Exposure
The stockpiling of KI should be viewed as an important precaution
for communities downwind of nuclear power plants. But radioactive iodine
is only one of many radioactive by-products that would be simultaneously
released from a damaged reactor. For example, a release would also
contain radioactive fallout of cesium-137 and strontium-90 each with a
half-life of 30 years.
While broadly categorized as an ?anti-radiation? pill, KI does
not protect populations caught downwind from these other long-lived radioactive
isotopes. People caught under a passing radioactive cloud would also be
exposed to whole body doses of harmful gamma rays and potentially lethal
radiation sickness. Inhalation and ingestion of other radioactive gases
and particulate would cause cancers and diseases in the lungs, digestive
system, blood and reproductive organs.
For further information contact: Nuclear Information and Resource Service,
1424 16th Street NW Suite 404,
Washington, DC 20036
Tel. 301-270-6477
March, 2002