Congressman’s Law from 2002 to Distribute Potassium Iodide Ignored by Bush; Requires Potassium Iodide for Residents Living within 20 Miles of Nuclear Plant
 
WASHINGTON (March 14, 2011) – Despite a law passed in 2002, authored by Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) to supply U.S. citizens within 20 miles of a nuclear power facility with radiation “emergency pills” that can protect the public from radioactive iodine, the Bush administration ignored the law and never initiated the distribution of the pharmaceutical safeguard. In light of the distribution of the pills occurring right now in Japan following their ongoing nuclear accident, Rep. Markey today wrote to the president’s science adviser asking him to begin implementing the law.
 
The pills, potassium iodide -- also called KI -- are safe, effective and inexpensive means of protecting against the cancer-causing effects of radioactive iodine, which has already been detected around one of the impacted Japanese reactors.
 
The letter, sent to Dr. John Holdren, President Obama’s Director, Office of Science & Technology Policy, can be found below.
 
“The Japanese nuclear crisis is already worse than the Three Mile Island accident and is clearly the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.  Japan reportedly is now distributing KI to its citizens,” writes Rep. Markey, the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee and a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee. “We should not wait for a catastrophic accident at or a terrorist attack on a nuclear reactor in this country to occur to implement this common-sense emergency preparedness measure.”
 
Rep. Markey amended the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 to make potassium iodide available to state and local governments to meet the needs of all persons living within a 20 mile radius of a nuclear power plant. However, the Bush administration chose to ignore these provisions and declined to implement them, thereby denying communities access to stockpiles of KI.
 
In December 2009, Rep. Markey wrote President Obama urging him to move forward with full implementation of the provisions. However, Dr. Holdren’s office wrote Rep. Markey in July of last year upholding the Bush administration’s position. Because of this action, citizens living within the 10 mile radius of nuclear power plants in some states have KI stockpiled for an accident, but others do not and those living out to the 20 mile radius do not receive KI.
 
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Radioactive Iodine, Health Risks and the Benefits of Potassium Iodine (KI)