Following the fire at the Ukrainian power plant in Zaporijjia in March and a strong demand for pharmacies, the Romanian government had started, in the spring, a free distribution of tablets through treating doctors for people under 40 years to be taken at the signal of the authorities.
After the recent fighting around the plant, he relaunched his campaign, recommending that the population obtain iodine tablets ” as quickly as possible “. The Romanian government, which has also sent nearly a million doses to neighboring Moldova, is trying at the same time to reassure the population. Not easy.
The ghost of Chernobyl
«It is a prevention campaign that was already planned in the event of a nuclear incident in the plants that are closer, in Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine, including that of southern Ukraine near Mykolaiv”, assures Petre Min, nuclear engineer at the National Commission for the Control of Nuclear Activities (CNCAN).
«This is to reassure and show that the situation is under control,” confirms Raluca Zoitanu, attending physician in Bucharest and president of the Federation of Family Doctors. Except that… “it had the opposite effect: the patients panicked and it saturated our lines”, recognizes the doctor, who explains that there is no danger given the distance at which the Zaporijjia power plant is located, 800 km from Romania (and 700 km from Moldova).
According to this doctor, Romanians remember the widespread distribution of iodine after the accident at the Chernobyl power plant in April 1986, located 600 km from the border: “We saw this distribution as a miracle solution, but it was in vain since the communist regime informed us too late, the radioactive cloud had already passed…” According to local studies carried out on the impact of the disaster in Romania, the level of radioactivity would not have endangered the health of the population. Today Raluca Zoitanu believes that the tablet is useful «in the event of a nearer accident.
Simulations of radioactive clouds
Coordinator of the nuclear emergency service, Petre Min closely monitors activities around power plants in Ukraine and assesses the radiological consequences of a possible accident. As simulations of radioactive clouds in the event of a disaster in Zaporizhia are increasing, especially in Russia and Ukraine, and are shared on social networks, he wishes to warn: «These simulations may be subject to misinterpretations, as we do not know the data on which they are based. Moreover, they show the trajectory of the cloud, not the impact on health it produces. »
With his CNCAN team, he carried out analyzes based on «several possible scenarios, taking into account meteorological data. According to their results, even with a strong wind from the northeast, the level of radioactivity would be minimal in Romania and Moldova. «Admittedly, uncertainties remain, recognizes the engineer, but according to our forecasts the long distance is a security factor for Romania and Moldova. » It remains to convince the populations concerned.