Story Filed: Wednesday, November 14, 2001 6:17 PM EST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- A U.S. lawmaker on Wednesday proposed a bill that
would stockpile anti-radiation medicine near American nuclear power plants in
case attackers released dangerous radioactive material into the air.
Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Edward Markey, a longtime critic of the
nuclear industry,
wants the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission to have ready supplies of potassium iodide within 200
miles of each of the country's 103 operating nuclear power plants.
The drug has been shown to protect the body's thyroid gland from diseases
caused by radiation exposure, Markey said. It must be taken several hours after
exposure to be effective.
``Potassium iodide is to radiation exposure what Cipro is to anthrax,'' he
said in a statement.
The bill would also require the government commission to stock potassium
iodide at individual homes and public facilities within 50 miles of a plant.
In the wake of the deadly Sept. 11 aerial attacks on Washington and New York,
Markey has urged lawmakers to pass measures to step up security at nuclear plants, which he
views as vulnerable to attack.
``In this new era of terrorism, in which the threat of an intentional release
of radioactivity can no longer be ignored, we should waste no more time,''
Markey said.
Government and private industry officials say all commercial nuclear plants have been on
high alert since the September attacks and have adopted stricter security
measures.
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