Chernobyl, Illinois.

Another obvious target for terrorists is nuclear power plants. It is known that potassium iodide pills protect against a dangerous contaminant that can result from such attacks, the one that caused the epidemic of thyroid cancer in Europe after the Chernobyl explosion of 1986.

11.5 million of these pills have been produced. One question is whether that is enough, but much more troubling is that we don't have a plan for distributing them. Although the National Academy of Science has found that the pills "should be available to everyone at risk of significant health consequences from the accumulation of iodine in the thyroid in the event of a radiological incident," no guidelines have been issued as to how the pills are to be dispensed.

Officials of the Department of Health and Human Services told Matthew Wald of The New York Times that guidelines are "in the process of final clearance and will be shared with state and local officials for comment in the near future." One has to wonder how long it will take to get the final clearance, obtain those comments, and actually issue the guidelines. Delay is maddening because, to be effective, the pills must be taken within hours of exposure. They can't be taken if they haven't been distributed.