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By Christine Hanley
Times Staff Writer
January 13 2003
State health officials have decided to more than
triple the number of potassium iodide pills they distribute in
communities around California's two nuclear power plants.
The decision comes after health experts and residents near the
San Onofre and Diablo Canyon nuclear generation stations
expressed concern that there might not be enough of the
medication for the people who live, work, attend school and
vacation in those areas. The pills could reduce the effects of
radiation poisoning after an accidental radiation release or act
of terrorism.
At least 400,000 of the 1.4 million pills will be given to
residents within a 10-mile radius of the plants, which are in
Orange County and San Luis Obispo County. But now, the state
officials say they will also make pills available to worried
residents who live outside the zones and to people who pass
through the areas.
"I think we want to be better safe than sorry," said
Eric Lamoureux, spokesman for the Governor's Office of Emergency
Services.
The state's decision won support from some health activists, who
have been pushing for a wider distribution of the pills.
"It's exciting," said Jonathan Parfrey, director of the
Southern California chapter of Physicians for Social
Responsibility. "I hope this is a very popular
program."
Potassium iodide, also known as KI from abbreviations on the
periodic table of elements, is a form of salt that protects
against one type of radioactive isotope: that of iodine. The
pills help block the absorption of radioactive iodine by the
thyroid, reducing the chance of thyroid cancer, the most common
ailment suffered after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant explosion
in Ukraine.
A few months after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade
Center and Pentagon in 2001, the federal Nuclear Regulatory
Commission offered the pills to more than 4 million people who
live within the 10-mile evacuation zones of nuclear power plants
across the nation. California was one of the states that signed
up for a supply and received 400,000 doses in the summer.
But the state has been struggling to come up with a distribution
plan.
Originally, the state planned to make the pills available only to
those living in the 10-mile evacuation zones -- 421,000 residents
near San Onofre and 22,000 residents near Diablo Canyon.
But officials debated whether the pills should be given directly
to residents or stored at public facilities such as schools and
hospitals farther from the plants. Some argue that giving the
pills to residents might offer them a false sense of security and
make them reluctant to get out of the area in the event of an
accident or attack. On the other hand, some officials question
how realistic it was to expect that residents could get to the
facility where the pills would be stockpiled.
There was also debate about how to protect vacationers,
schoolchildren and commuters who don't live in the zones.
In the end, the state decided to distribute the pills directly to
residents in the zones and to anyone who requested them and also
stockpile pills at some facilities. To address the concerns of
residents outside the zones who felt they were being left out,
the state is proposing to give the pills to anyone who requests
them.
Distribution could begin within two months.
"We want to make sure -- just in case there's a run on it,
which we don't expect -- that we can make it available not only
for those people living in the area, but also working in the area
and recreating in the area," Lamoureux said. "Those
numbers are hard to calculate. So having more than enough on
hand, we believe, is prudent."
San Clemente Mayor Stephanie Dorey, whose city is just north of
San Onofre, said residents will be relieved to hear about the
state's plans.
She said she hopes the plan is implemented as soon as possible
and paired with a comprehensive public awareness campaign.
"It's about time. And this needs to be done
post-haste," she said, adding that with the nation focused
on homeland security, "this is one of the most important
things that needs to be handled on the home front. We're
vulnerable down here."
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