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The recent decision to issue stable iodine tablets to populations living near nuclear sites must be viewed as a realisation of the possible threat of a catastrophic release of radioactivity into the environment as a result of a terrorist attack.

Following Chernobyl, the rapid and unexpected increase in thyroid cancer in populations of the ex-Soviet Union, particularly children, drew attention to the extreme sensitivity of human populations to exposure to radioactive iodine, I-131 and I-132, a large and radiologically significant component of nuclear reactors. Radio-iodines are very volatile and will travel large distances, consequently are able to cause effects in people who inhale the gas or drink contaminated water and milk at distances measured in hundreds of miles. Following the releases of radioactive iodine which occurred in the 1957 Windscale (now Sellafield) reactor fire there were elevated levels detected on the south coast of England and even in Belgium and Germany some days later, and effects of these releases are being seen on the east coast of Ireland some 40 years later.

It is well known that radioactive iodine concentrates in the thyroid gland and causes thyroid cancer, but recent research also suggests that it is implicated in increases in breast cancer. Following the release of radioactive iodine, some defence can be made by taking stable non-radioactive iodine tablets, which displaces the radio-iodine from the cells of the thyroid and other parts of the body. However, the rapid dispersion of gaseous radio-iodine which follows a release results in exposure to people very far away from the site of release.

For this reason, in England and Wales, where there are several nuclear sites which are potential terrorist targets, the Green Party believes that the government should ensure that stable radio-iodine tablets should be available not merely to those living within three miles of nuclear power stations, but more widely:

a. Stable iodine tablets should be issued to everyone living within twenty miles of a nuclear power station.

b. Stable iodine tablets should also be available over the counter at all pharmacies, so that people living further away from nuclear power stations can have the choice to ensure that they could protect themselves in the event of an exposure.

c. The nuclear power industry should be closed down as quickly as possible, in order to minimise the routine risk it poses to life and health.

ENDS