Ann Arbor council supports better nuclear disaster preparation

Feb. 05--ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Ann Arbor officials are unanimously in support of better preparing for nuclear disaster, and it's not just the potential risk of a meltdown at the Fermi 2 power plant.

As the City Council voted 10-0 to approve a resolution in support of stockpiling potassium iodide tablets, also known as KI, Monday night, Feb. 4, one council member noted the recent unraveling of a nuclear arms pact between Russia and the U.S.

"We're entering a new arms race possibly with nuclear weapons," said Council Member Ali Ramlawi, D-5th Ward.

"For a cost of less than a dollar per person, I think this is a sound investment," he said of stockpiling KI tablets, which can reduce the risk of thyroid cancer in the event of a nuclear disaster. "I feel this is a very wise and prudent measure to take."

The approved resolution directs the city's lobbying team to advocate to the state and U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to provide the same level of KI protection to residents here as Canadian authorities provide to Ontario residents within 50 miles of the Fermi 2 nuclear power plant in southeast Michigan.

Ann Arbor is roughly 30 miles from the plant operated by DTE Energy along Lake Erie. DTE maintains the plant, in operation since the 1980s, is safe and an important part of its energy portfolio, providing about 20 percent of the power generated by DTE.

The American Thyroid Association has called for pre-distribution of potassium iodide, also known as KI, to households within a 10-mile radius of nuclear power plants such as Fermi 2, and stockpiling it in public facilities such as schools, hospitals, clinics, post offices and police and fire stations in up to a 50-mile radius.

Timely ingestion of KI can reduce the effects of radiation and help prevent thyroid cancer in the event of a nuclear fallout, notes the resolution brought forward by Council Members Anne Bannister, D-1st Ward, and Chip Smith, D-5th Ward.

Smith hopes the city can work with federal lawmakers to get legislation passed to make DTE pay for stockpiling KI in communities within 50 miles of Fermi 2. DTE already provides KI to people within 10 miles of the plant through a voucher program.

It's not an issue on a lot of people's minds, Smith said, but after the 2011 nuclear disaster in Japan, "It's worth discussing and worth bringing into our local emergency-management planning."

KI tablets cost between 25 cents and a $1 each, and have a shelf life of about five to seven years, Bannister said.

The sooner a person takes KI, the more time the thyroid will have to "fill up" with stable iodine, blocking radioactive iodine from entering the thyroid, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

People should take KI only if advised to do so by public health or emergency management officials, as there are health risks associated with taking KI, according to the CDC.

KI can't protect the body from radioactive elements other than radioactive iodine, and if radioactive iodine is not present, taking KI is not protective and could cause harm, according to the CDC.

Infants who receive more than one dose could develop hypothyroidism, which can cause brain damage, according to the CDC.

Council Member Zachary Ackerman, D-3rd Ward, was absent.

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