WASHINGTON, June 30: At the urging of the Bush administration, military commanders are quietly stocking up on anti-radiation pills and making plans to give them to US troops should they be exposed to radioactive fallout from an attack or accident, according to documents and officials.

Suppliers of potassium iodide say shipments to the military have increased in recent months amid fears of war between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan, and new terror threats against American targets including nuclear power plants.

One of the largest orders — 134,400 potassium iodide tablets for 9,600 troops — was shipped to the US Army on May 28, according to records obtained by Reuters.

If taken immediately after exposure, the tablets have been shown to protect the thyroid gland from diseases caused by radiation. A spokesman for US Central Command said it was not distributing potassium iodide tablets to troops in Afghanistan and other South Asian countries, disputing the claims of several suppliers.

The Pentagon would not discuss its potassium iodide policy, which was outlined in an internal memorandum issued two months after the Sept. 11 attacks that killed more than 3,000 people.

In the memorandum, dated Nov. 19, 2001, William Winkenwerder, assistant secretary of defence for health affairs, directed Army, Navy and Air Force commanders to assess the risk to troops and to develop “implementation plans on the use of potassium iodide.”

“The US military overseas, their families, US civilian workers and contractors may be at risk from hostile actions and other events against nuclear power plants resulting in radioactive iodine release,” wrote Winkenwerder, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s chief health adviser.

In November and in a follow-up memo issued on Jan. 24, Winkenwerder told the services that they “must ensure availability of supply” of potassium iodide. He also provided the secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force with guidance on how the tablets should be administered. —Reuters