Europe: The European Commission declared on August 30 that the authorities from Ukraine had requested help building up a stockpile of potassium iodide tablets. These tables have long been taken to protect the human thyroid from nuclear radiation.
The European Union Civil Protection Mechanism has already collected 5.5 million tablets for the war-torn in recent days, about 5 million of which have come from European strategic reserves, as well as an extra 5,00,000 from Austria.
The government of Ukraine wants to be prepared in the event of any provocation of Russia at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which has been under Russian occupation for many months.
Along with this, the nuclear plant, which is the largest in Europe, has been repeatedly shelled in recent weeks. Recently leaked footage has revealed large amounts of Russian equipment stored within the plant, and there are fears that Russia may threaten to compromise its safety to leverage political influence. International Atomic Energy Agency experts are scheduled to visit the plant on Tuesday.
The Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarฤiฤ, mentioned in the statement, “No nuclear power plant should ever be used as a war theatre. It is not acceptable that civilian lives are put in dangerโฆ The European Union is pre-emptively delivering about five million potassium iodide tablets to war torn Ukraine from the rescEU strategic reserves to offer individuals protection in case of exposure to high levels of radiation.”
In addition, the Governor of Zaporizhzhia Oblast- Oleksandr Starukh, stated that around 25,000 iodine tablets have already been distributed to the people of Ukraine living within 50 kilometres of the nuclear power plant as a precaution. Appearing on live TV, the officials showed local citizens how to use the tablets “in case of any future radiation leak.”
