“The FDA recommends potassium iodide (KI)…for thyroid blocking in radiation emergencies.”  “The data clearly demonstrate [the risk]…KI can be used to provide safe and effective protection against thyroid cancer caused by irradiation.”  “The known potential…for serious side effects in a small sensitive population is not sufficient ground from which to conclude, or even to suggest, a significant and quantifiable proportion of serious reactions.”  “Daily dosing should continue until the risk of exposure has passed… The increased risk of thyroid suppression in the fetus and neonate leads to a specific recommendation that newborns and pregnant women be given priority with regard to these adjunctive measures in order to obviate, as possible, the need for repeat dosing with KI.”  FDA emphasizes “the overall benefits of KI far exceed the risks [of side effects or overdosing], especially in children”

National Council on Radiation Protection

“Radioiodines are the primary internal radiation hazard during the first few weeks after atomic bomb fallout.  Effects from…other radioactive materials are considered to be minor”…“A major protective action…is the use of [KI] as a blocking agent… panic [may arise] from efforts to obtain the blocking agent.”

American Thyroid Association

“It is essential that, one way or another, enough KI be available to protect the public, especially children, in the event of a nuclear accident or act of radiological terrorism.”  “…the United States, virtually alone among developed nations, has failed to apply the principal lesson learned from Chernobyl.”…The American Thyroid Association has strongly recommended the stockpiling of KI for prophylaxis in the event of a nuclear reactor accident.”

American Academy of Pediatrics

“KI can be 100% effective in preventing radiation-induced effects, including thyroid cancer.  [This] is the reason that it should be kept in homes, schools and day care centers.”  “All children at risk should receive KI before exposure, if possible, or immediately afterward.”

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

1980 Annual Report: “A protective measure exists that can be used even if [all other] safeguards fail.  This protective measure is orally administered KI…”

NRC Report: NUREG-1633: “Except for thyroid cancer, there has been no confirmed increase in the rates of other cancers including leukemia…attributed to Chernobyl…there is no evidence of any hereditary disease in children born after the accident”…”The vast majority [97%] of the thyroid cancers were diagnosed among those living more than 50 km (31 miles) from the site…this increase [in cancer], seen in areas more than 150 miles (300 km) from the site, continues to this day”

Official Transcript: KI Task Force Meeting:  Lead Investigator, Hanford Thyroid Disease Study: “I can tell you, if I’m in my office and I have some KI, and I hear on CNN that there’s been an explosion, 100, 200 miles away, I’m, as a physician, probably going to gobble up some KI.”

FDA Report  KI Task Force Meeting: “[Following Chernobyl]…there was no increase in any other malignancy to the magnitude observed for thyroid cancer…the increased incidence of thyroid cancer was observed out to 250 miles from the accident’s site…Thyroid cancer incidence was 200 times that was reported in unexposed countries.”

From Various Remarks by Commissioner Nils Diaz, Chairman of the NRC: “One major, established delayed health effect [from Chernobyl] that is especially bad because it was avoidable: about eighteen hundred children with thyroid cancer, due to the callous disregard of the former Soviet Union for its people.”…”Evacuation and the use of potassium iodide pills would have significantly reduced the incidence of thyroid cancer.”  “There is no reason for this to have happened; it is due to a failure of a society to take care of its people that these children are suffering from thyroid cancer.  Lack of adequate and timely evacuation, lack of use of KI and lack of restrictions on food contaminated with radioactive iodine are the culprits, all avoidable.”

NUREG 1250: [At Chernobyl] “Thousands of measurements of I-131 activity in the thyroids of the exposed population suggest that the observed levels were lower than those that would have been expected had this prophylactic measure not been taken.  The use of KI by the Pripyat population in particular was credited with permissible iodide content (less than 30 rad) found in 97% of the evacuees tested.”

National Academy of Sciences

Press Release of Dec. 4, 2003:  “Potassium iodide pills should be available to everyone age 40 or younger — especially children and pregnant and lactating women — living near a nuclear power plant” …“The report calls on states and municipalities to decide how to stockpile, distribute, and administer potassium iodide tablets. Federal agencies, however, should keep a backup supply and be prepared to distribute it to affected areas in the event of a nuclear incident. The U.S. government also should provide financial support to help states implement plans for distributing potassium iodide.”

Report of the President’s Commission on The Accident at Three Mile Island

“An adequate supply of [KI] should be available for distribution to the general population.”

Report to the President’s Council on Environmental Quality

“Thyroid damage…can be a concern more than 100 miles downwind from an accident…Dose reduction measures [KI]…might be needed out to hundreds of miles…thyroid damage could affect more people…than any other radiation effect.  [KI] could significantly reduce the number of people affected by an accident.”

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

“Following a catastrophic accident…hundreds of thousands of thyroid nodules cases could occur as well as tens of thousands of delayed cancer deaths.  Most…would probably appear…beyond 30 miles from the reactor site.”

World Health Organization

“Excess thyroid cancer in children…from Chernobyl has been established…The increase has been documented up to 500 km from the accident site” …“the Chernobyl accident has thus demonstrated that significant doses from radioactive iodine can occur hundreds of kilometers from the site, beyond [ten-mile] emergency planning zones.”  . The risk of [KI] side effects is very low.”  Cancer risk, “can be reduced or even prevented by proper implementation of stable iodine prophylaxis.”

United Nations Report: Chernobyl, A Continuing Catastrophe

“It is 14 years since the accident, and yet the worst may still come…The number of people with thyroid cancer began to increase about five years after the accident.  This number continues to rise….the number of cases has exceeded expectations.  Over 11,000 cases of thyroid cancer have already been reported.”

Public Law (Bio terrorism Act)  Passed by Congress and signed by Pres. Bush

SEC. 127. POTASSIUM IODIDE…“(a) IN GENERAL.—Through the national stockpile under section 121, the President, subject to subsections (b) and (c), shall make available to State and local governments potassium iodide tablets for stockpiling and for distribution as appropriate to public facilities, such as schools and hospitals, in quantities sufficient to provide adequate protection for the population within 20 miles of a nuclear power plant….the President, in consultation with individuals representing appropriate Federal, State, and local agencies, shall establish guidelines for the stockpiling of potassium iodide tablets, and for the distribution and utilization of potassium iodide tablets in the event of a nuclear incident… The President shall request the National Academy of Sciences to… conduct a study to determine what is the most effective and safe way to distribute and administer potassium iodide tablets”

Center for Disease Control

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has prepared this fact sheet to further explain when KI might be appropriate and what people should consider before making a decision to take KI…If radioactive iodine is not present, then taking KI will not protect people. If radioactive iodine is present, then taking KI will help protect a person’s thyroid gland from the radioactive iodine.”…“The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that KI be taken as soon as the radioactive cloud containing iodine from the explosion is close by. KI may still have some protective effect even if it is taken 3 to 4 hours after exposure to radioactive iodine.” …“if a person expects to be exposed to radioactive iodine for more than 24 hours, another dose should be taken every 24 hours”