Is Athens prepared for a nuclear “accident”?
With the possibility of the use of nuclear weapons increasingly infiltrating Moscow’s rhetorical diplomats and officials, but also with the fear of a nuclear “accident” in Ukraine being a month more visible than ever, the competent European authorities are hiding it. . alarm bell. In this context, the newly established Emergency Health Preparedness and Response Service (HERA) held an extraordinary meeting last night, focusing on Wednesday’s threats marked by the ongoing war in the east of the Old Continent. In the same discussion it was decided to look for data on the stocks of the states, in order to evaluate and in a second phase to fill any gaps in the warehouses. In fact, a representative of the Greek government participated in the meeting.
But is Athens prepared for such an unfortunate scenario? And if so, who are the bodies responsible for shielding the country? Regarding the possibility of iodine production pills, information from the Ministry of Defense, emphasizes that the Armed Forces are prepared, having lasted the competent units, such as the Special Corps for Nuclear-Biological-Chemical Defense (EBD). ) and especially the 441 Warehouse of Sanitary Material Base (ABYY), for the production of all the necessary preparations, ensuring at the same time the work of the necessary materials (eg forms of nuclear and chemical protection) for the personnel of the three branches.
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As for the coverage of the needs of the citizens, of the special area of medicines, they point out that the responsibility for the supply and distribution of the necessary medical material, including iodine pills, is “exclusively the Ministry of Health”. The same sources also clarify that so far both the Panhellenic Association of Pharmacists and the Panhellenic Pharmaceutical Association have not received any emergency information about their mobilization. However, the same circles point out that “there are staff plans to protect the population from a nuclear threat, which are constantly updated at regular intervals since 1945”, while they add that the competent state services “are in constant communication with each other, monitoring what is happening “.
What scientists say
However, Greek Atomic Energy (EEAE) sources, speaking to “NEA” – at least about the possibility of an accident – emphasize that “scientific analyzes document that the radiological, beyond a zone of a few tens of kilometers from the plant where the nuclear occurred. accident, do not exceed the criteria for taking urgent measures to protect the general population, such as the association or the administration of stable iodine “. Meanwhile, for iodine pills, the relevant guide entitled “HERCA-WENRA Approach for Better Cross-Border Coordination of Protection in the First Phase of a Nuclear Accident”, issued in 2014 after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, provides Specifically, “the prophylactic administration of iodine could be set up at a distance of up to 100 kilometers from the nuclear plant, depending on the severity of the accident,” say the same sources. For the history and according to the detailed data of the European Nuclear Society in the wider area there are a total of 173 nuclear power plants (of which 12 are under construction). Of these, 56 are in France, 11 in the United Kingdom, seven in Belgium, three in Germany and an additional 38 in Russia and another 15 in Ukraine. It is noted that the closest to our country are the two factories in Bulgaria, which are located on the border with Romania.
Finally, in a recent announcement, the Panhellenic Pharmaceutical Association, trying to put an end to the frenzy of a portion of citizens who have already rushed to pharmacies to get iodine pills, clarified that “iodine preparations available in Greece as supplements and 500 times less than those doses of information provided by the World Health Organization that they should be administered in the event of a radioactive accident and are therefore unsuitable for the indication. ” The pharmacists’ representatives also confirmed that “in the event of such an event, the health authorities of each country are responsible for deciding whether to prescribe iodine preparations as well as the exact doses per age group as well as the onset and duration of iodine preventive treatment “.
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