Residents Near NY Nuke Plant to Get Iodide Pills

Reuters ^

[EggsAckley]

Wednesday, June 5, 2002 Residents Near NY Nuke Plant to Get Iodide Pills WHITE PLAINS, New York (Reuters) - Amid fears nuclear power plants could be the target of terror attacks, officials plan to provide residents near the Indian Point installation, just north of New York, with potassium iodide pills to protect against any release of radioactive gases.

West Chester County officials said that beginning on Saturday the pills will be distributed on the first three Saturdays in June at three local schools.

The distribution of the pills, which were provided by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and are known as KI, comes after federal warnings that nuclear power plants could be the targets of future attacks.

KI helps to prevent thyroid cancer in the event of a radiological emergency, officials said, by blocking the absorption of radioactive iodide, one of the gases that can be released in a nuclear accident.

The county has also stockpiled the KI pills and will distribute them to local schools on request. Forty-six pharmacies in the county have agreed to stock the pills, the Westchester County Health Department said.

[phasma proeliator]

You likely are correct (in the absence of extreme explosive power). However, the fact that ANY radioactive material escaped (which wouldn't be hard) - not necessarily from the reactor core - would cause widespread panic and our government would be forced to shut down and evacuate a very large area. Hence, many people would suffer.

[HELLRAISER II]

In all seriousness why would you say that? Have I offended you in anyway? I don't even remember saying anything to you before, I will however remember your handle in the future.

[HELLRAISER II]

Well my inexperience is showing in this, damn I can't wait for a Finance Thread so I don't have handk breaking my balls.

[handk]

And you probably think a "nuclear family" could potentially kill you and everyone else within a 30-mile radius.

Like I said... "Street Smarts".

[chimera]

Forgive my ignorance on this subject, but I am working at a credit union office inside a nuclear plant right now and thought I should find out about this stuff. We have a credit union office here and I am filling in part-time. I haven't heard any talk about KI in the New Orleans area. Is this a prescription thing, or can I just buy it off the shelf in a regular drug store?

What can I say? Do what you feel you have to do. If it makes you feel more secure to have those pills in your pocket or medicine chest, go right ahead, its not illegal or anything. But, I have to tell you, since I'm sitting right now about 30 feet from the core of a (research) reactor, I don't feel the need for those things. You'd be amazed what a reasonable amount of simple shielding material, like water and (barytes) concrete, will do.

What I do worry about with this KI business is that a non-zero percentage of the population has a tendency for deleterious reaction to injested KI. They're allergic. Some allergic reactions can be fatal. My worry is that nut-case buttwipes like Billary and that other Westerchester County whack-job politician will just start alarming the sheeple with this unrealistic nuclear terrorism baloney, so much so that some of them will just start taking the KI as a matter of course, you know, "just in case". And, if some of them are sensitive to the compound in a negative way, they'll needlessly suffer. You have to balance the risks against the benefits, and, in this case, as is often true, that hasn't been done.

[dd5339]

I stand corrected! ps, don't tell my wife I was wrong!

[antivenom]

My parents live EAST and across the Chesapeake Bay...from Calvert Cliffs Nuclear power plant. ..Dorchester County has in their possession the pills for all residents and more.

[HELLRAISER II]

I may have said something that I should have thought about a little more before I opened my mouth and maybe because I did you have labled me as a candidate for street smart, but your definately a smart @ss.

[chimera]

Well my inexperience is showing in this, damn I can't wait for a Finance Thread so I don't have handk breaking my balls.

Well, hey, welcome to FR. Just say what you want, and let the chips fall. Sure, you may get hammered now and then (Lord knows I have), but don't take it personally. Learn what you can and just "move on"...

[HELLRAISER II]

10-4.

[antivenom]

AND...his cell phone kept working!!! Damn wonder who THAT service provider was??? LOL!!!!!

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

Hopefully I won't be added to your list of nutcases

No and I'm sorry for the question, I was rude. I will tell you however that unless you are right on the grounds of a plant the KI pills are a very good start. They will in fact prevent your system from taking up other, more harm full forms of iodine.

If you have a few days supply, it will give you time to both remove yourself from the area and acquire other sources for a longer term treatment.

[betsyross]

Thanks for the info. Guess I need to learn to type faster. Before I could post my question, the info was already on the thread. Sorry, but as I said, I am working in between updates.

[Sandy]

AND...his cell phone kept working!!! Damn wonder who THAT service provider was???

Verizon. "Can you hear me now?"

[kidd]

Sigh.

Certain groups in Westchester County have been trying to close Indian Point for a long time. The article very suspiciously doesn't mention how many pills each person will get...

Well, from a Westchester County announcement posted here several days ago, you learn that each person that asks, will receive exactly one pill. And the citizens have to go get it, it will not be mailed or delivered to those who are within the prescribed area.

Why, you may ask, would the county provide only half of the recommended dosage for only one day, and make people beg for it? Simple. This is how Westchester County Greens get a whole lot of free publicity, fear mongering, and draw attention to their agenda - with taxpayer money.

Wake up Freepers. This is a political move, not a safety issue.If you're concerned about the safety of Nuclear power, then read some of Chimera's posts here. As an engineer in the industry for 12 years I can vouch for his complete accuracy. However, this is about closing a completely safe facility in the name of September 11.

By giving in to the fear, you let the terrorists win.

[handk]

Regarding chimera's comments about "allergic reactions, even fatal", etc.; if you were directly in the path of radioactive contamination the chances are near 100% that doing nothing to counteract such radiation would be very foolish, if not fatal. Buy the potassium iodate pills. Medical Corps is the best. In the meantime, consult your physician and/or do some research if you're worried about an allergic reaction. I'm not.

[concerned about politics]

They didn't say whether the plan was by Al Quata or Eco-terrorists who would love to blow up a nuke plant. I heard on NPR, yes NPR in my car, a woman advocating a blow up as the only way to alert the public of the dangers of nuclar energy. I told my husband I couldn't believe she was saying it on National Public (funded) Radio!!! It's American terrorism instigating - to say the least!!

[antivenom]

"...yess barely...I have all this ash in my nose, mouth, eyes and...LOOK there is ash in the little holes on my cell phone....can you hear me now?"

[handk]

Well, from a Westchester County announcement posted here several days ago, you learn that each person that asks, will receive exactly one pill. And the citizens have to go get it, it will not be mailed or delivered to those who are within the prescribed area.

We citizens are cattle. We don't matter.

The recommended dosage is 99 tablets taken over an 85-day period!

And your county critters are only going to give out one tablet? Translation? "Go back home and die."

[EggsAckley]

I agree. I'm equally worried about domestic terrorism. Here in CA they are very brazen about their "cause." They blew up our main power facility about a decade ago, and have destroyed several other businesses/properties. Not to mention the tree spiking, which hit very close to home for me, living on a redwood plantation.

I say arrest all of them for terrorism and get them out of the picture so we can concentrate on foreign terrorists.