RALEIGH -- The NC Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response (PHP&R) has notified local health departments that they can expect to receive new supplies of potassium Iodide (KI) to distribute to residents living within the state's 10-mile emergency planning zones (EPZ) for nuclear power plants before the end of next year. Although the plan to resupply these communities is not new information, health officials want EPZ residents in North Carolina to know what to expect because it is different than what is taking place in South Carolina and it may be causing some confusion.

"South Carolina will be resupplying their EPZ residents with KI in November and that's fine," PHP&R Director Julie Casani said. "We decided to take a different approach after we were informed that the shelf lives of our existing supplies of KI were extended. The main thing we want our residents to know is that the tablets they have are fully potent and that they will be given new tablets next year."

Dr. Casani emphasized that people who have moved to one of the state's 11 EPZ counties (of which Brunswick County is one) since KI was originally distributed in 2002, and residents who may have lost or damaged their original allotment, will not have to wait until 2008 to obtain potassium Iodide.

"We have ordered liquid KI from the NRC and are drawing from state and local stockpiles of KI tablets to provide doses to local health departments within the next few weeks," Dr. Casani said. "Once the shipments have been received and existing supplies redistributed based on community need, the local health departments will advise the public how to obtain doses of KI to cover their needs until the fall of 2008."

KI tablets in 130 mg and 65 mg doses were originally distributed in 2002 through 11 local health departments to those residents residing within the 10-mile EPZs of the state's three nuclear power plants and the South Carolina EPZ that extends into North Carolina in 2002. The 130 mg Iosat tablets -- manufactured by Anbex, Inc. -- have expiration dates ranging from April to August of 2007. The NRC extended the expiration dates on these tablets to 2009. For example: Tablets with an original expiration date of June 2007 now expire in June 2009.