Polish authorities said on Friday they had distributed anti-radiation tablets to fire departments across the country in case of exposure caused by the war in neighboring Ukraine, though they denied there was cause for alarm.
This measure was taken in reaction to the fighting around the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporijjia, the largest in Europe, which raised fears of a nuclear disaster.
“We have decided, as a preventive measure, to start distributing potassium iodide tablets to district fire departments,” Deputy Interior Minister Blazej Pobozy told reporters.
He clarified that it is a routine measure “in case of a potential radiation threat, which… at the moment does not exist.”
The tablets need to be transferred to local authorities and will eventually end up at distribution points, schools in most cases. Blazej Pobozy said there were enough doses for everyone who needed them.
Tablets useful only in case of an accident
A medical representative present at the press conference warned of the dangers of taking these pills unless necessary.
Blazej Pobozy said that the potassium iodide tablets are a preventive measure in case of a nuclear accident, but would not be useful in the event of a tactical nuclear weapons attack.
In that scenario, “completely different isotopes are released, from which unfortunately there are no pills to protect us,” he said.
He stressed, however, that compared to a nuclear accident, an attack was “even less likely.”
Romania, bordering Ukraine, had made a similar decision in March: “We cannot completely exclude” this risk and “we know that in the event of an accident, we do not have time to distribute the pills”, the Minister of Health, Alexandru Rafila.
Source: BFM TV
