State may take back iodine tablets issued to all houses

The Department of Health has said it is prepared to consider recalling the iodine tablets issued to 2.1 million homes in 2002, after a conference was told they would be useless in the event of a nuclear incident at Sellafield, and could even pose a health risk to some people.

Speaking at a special meeting of Louth Co Council yesterday, experts for British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) said the iodine tablets were only effective when taken in response to a leak of the radioactive isotope iodine 131. Sellafield stopped handling this isotope some years ago, they said.

Dr Rex Strong, a physicist with BNFL, said the tablets may even adversely affect the health of people who may be vulnerable to iodine overdose.

Mr Chris Hone of the National Radiological Protection Institute confirmed the tablets would be no use in response to a radioactive leak from Sellafield.

Mr Hone said whether the tablets actually ever would have been useful in the event of a leak of iodine 131 was "a vexed question".

The tablets were issued to 2.1 million households in June and July 2002 by the Department of Health.

The move followed a memorable radio discussion in which the then minister for state with responsibility for nuclear safety, Mr Joe Jacob, outlined the State's response to an accident or an act of sabotage at Sellafield. The iodine tablets were a key part of Government strategy, Mr Jacob indicated.

Yesterday Mr Jacob was not available for comment. A spokesman for the Department of Health said that as far as the Department was aware Sellafield was still handling iodine 131 when the tablets were issued in June 2002.

The spokesman said the Department accepted that this was no longer the case. If the tablets were now considered a potential cause of ill-health the Department would consider recalling them, he added.

The BNFL experts were in Co Louth at the invitation of Louth Co Council to discuss safety issues at the Sellafield plant, which is on the UK's Cumbrian coast, about 112 miles from Dundalk.

Responding to allegations that records of material kept at Sellafield were not properly maintained, the BNFL personnel said they remained confident that material had not "escaped or been stolen". Mr John Clarke, Head of Environmental Health Safety and Quality at Sellafield, said that "in the past there was not the requirement for record- keeping that there is today." But he also said the company could be confident that no material had gone missing.

"There is only two ways it can get out of the pond. It could either leak through a hole in the pond down into the ground or somebody could somehow go in and take something out. If you had seen the plant you would know the chances of something like that are almost impossible."

Mr Clarke said the amount of radiation created by Sellafield was measured at two units while ordinary background radiation could be as high as 3,000 units.

However, Co Louth GP Dr Mary Grehan took issue with scientific studies put forward by BNFL. Dr Grehan said that while national figures may not show alarming numbers of cancers in the region, there were very high levels of specific and unusual cancers.

She also referred to a British study which showed high levels of leukaemia in children under five years of age.

Dr Grehan maintained the incidence of cancer, stillbirth and Down's Syndrome babies was again increasing in the region.