KYIV, Ukraine — A day after President Volodymyr Zelensky warned of possible Russian sabotage at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, government agencies have outlined steps citizens can take. done to prepare for nuclear disaster.
Although officials urged people to stay calm, at one pharmacy in the capital, the number of people looking to buy potassium iodide drug spiked.
Denys Yakymenko, a worker at Wholesale Pharmacy, said: “We have sold out, adding that a man came to buy seven boxes of medicine that Mr. Yakymenko considers panic buying behavior. . “Last year, we had it too.”
Yet another nearby pharmacy attached to a clinic did not see the panic buying. The workers there said only one person came looking for medicine.
Potassium iodide is used to saturate a person’s thyroid gland with iodine so that radioactive iodine inhaled or ingested after exposure will not be trapped by the gland. The pills are a way to counteract the effects of radiation exposure.
The Ukrainian capital is more than 340 miles from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, but there have been significant concerns about the plant’s safety, especially in recent days, and a disaster there could affect an area hundreds of miles away.
On Thursday, Zelensky said that Ukrainian intelligence “has received information that Russia is reviewing the scenario of a terrorist act at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant – an act of terrorism with radiation.”
While Russia denies the allegation, some in Ukraine are preparing for the worst.
Ukrainians have experienced similar fears before, when the war escalated. makes many people prepare for Russia targeting nuclear power plants or the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
Fears of an accident at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant have increased in recent weeks, as Ukraine launched a counterattack in the area and the Kakhovka Dam was destroyed by an explosion, depleting a reservoir used to supply water to the plant’s main cooling pond. The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog warned earlier this week of a security situation “extremely fragile” at the factory.
Then came a cryptic warning on Wednesday from Ukraine’s chief of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, that the Russians exploited the cooling lake, an allegation that Moscow has denied and UN inspectors at the plant said they saw no evidence. Finally, Mr. Zelensky sounded the alarm on Thursday.
Ukraine’s Interior Minister, Ihor Klymenko, said in a televised address on Friday that the government was summoning engineers, representatives of state emergency services, police and doctors to prepare exposed to an attack or act of sabotage at the plant that could release radiation. He urged people to stay calm and follow the instructions of the authorities.
“The radioactive background that can be in the air after any event will persist for about a day,” he said. “We will reduce the background radiation by 80% within a day.”
Klymenko said in the event of radiation or a nuclear attack, residents without evacuation instructions should lock themselves in their rooms, close windows and turn off the air conditioning to limit radiation exposure.
“We will make all the instructions and all the rules of conduct clear during this time,” Mr. Klymenko said.
He also noted that drills will be held in the coming days to prepare, but added that the equipment to measure radiation levels in Ukraine is ready for use.
