Pill Giveaway In Limerick Nuclear Plant Area Cautions Against Disaster

LIMERICK, PA — All residents and employees within ten miles of the Limerick Generation Station are eligible to receive free potassium iodide tablets this week as a caution against potential radioactive disaster.

The tablets are being made available free of charge by the Montgomery and Chester county departments of health. Tablet pick-up events will be held Thursday at the Pottstown Health Center from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Kimberton Fire Company Banquet Hall from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., and the Keystone Fire Company in Boyertown from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.

If you cannot pick up tablets on Thursday, they are available daily at the Pottstown Health Center, Monday through Friday, from 8 p.m. to 4 p.m.

To determine if you are eligible to receive the free tablets, enter your address into this ArcGIS map. If your address is in the yellow - the Limerick Emergency Planning Zone - then you qualify.

Potassium iodide is distributed each year to residents. In the event of a radiological emergency at the Limerick Station, the tablets would protect the thyroid gland against harmful radioactive iodine, officials said.

Tablets should only be taken when state officials say to do so.

Since potassium iodide contains non-radioactive iodine, it helps to stop radioactive iodine, which could be released into the air during a radioactive emergency, from being absorbed into the body by the thyroid gland, officials said.

That's because once the thyroid gland is full with nonradioactive iodine, it will not absorb any more, per the CDC.

"Emergency preparedness is a critical part of public health and having potassium iodide tablets for residents who live or work within 10 miles of an active nuclear facility is an essential preparation in the case of a radiological emergency," Acting Secretary of Health and Pennsylvania Physician General Dr. Denise Johnson said in a statement. "It's important to remember potassium iodide should only be taken when instructed to do so by state health officials or the governor, and it is not a replacement for evacuation in the case of a radiological emergency at one of Pennsylvania's four active nuclear facilities."

Residents will receive a two day supply of tablets, and businesses will receive a one-day supply.

Anyone can take the tablets as long as they are not allergic to iodine.

Nuclear regulatory committees have consistently deemed Limerick to be operating safely, though some environmental groups continue to question the impact of the plant on the area's residents, even barring any serious accidents. The Limerick plant employs an environmental monitoring program to "ensure the continued health" of the Schuylkill River and communities it serves, spokespersons for Exelon, which owns the plant, told Patch.