Distribution of the pills, provided by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, has been organized by state and local health departments. Parts of Wake, Chatham, Harnett and Lee counties are affected by the new program.
The NRC sent out letters last December to all states with nuclear power plants offering them complimentary potassium iodide pills, said Roger Hannah, public affairs officer for the NRC Atlanta branch.
He said states were given ultimate control over whether they would participate and the method of distribution they would implement.
"All the NRC did was pay for and provide the tablets to the state," said Hannah.
NRC funding is only providing tablets for people living within the emergency planning zone, Hannah said. "The data shows that people living outside the 10-mile radius are less likely to be exposed."
Paula Williams, program manager of communicable diseases for Wake County, said distributing pills to people within a 10-mile radius is the "standard situation set up by the federal government regarding the zone."
Potassium iodide is a nonprescription drug that helps protect the thyroid gland from radioactive exposure, Williams said. "It fills the thyroid with stable iodide so it can't absorb the radioactive iodide."
Although Hannah said they are effective in terms of preventing iodide absorption, he said the pills do not protect from other substances that might be released.
Williams said evacuating the area still is the most important response to any nuclear plant emergency. "This is not a substitute for evacuation," she said.
