FEARS: Residents Near NY Nuke Plant to Get Pills

June 4, 2002

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.

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