No data has been received from the Chernobyl power stations since the morning of February 25 and the National Atomic Energy Agency admits the concern about the impossibility of communicating with the Ukrainian personnel of the Zaporizhizhia power plant which fell into the hands of the Russian armed forces and for the attack on the Kharikiv nuclear research plant but neither in Europe nor in Italy has any changes been detected in the levels of radioactivity in the atmosphere. “There is no nuclear alarm, no do-it-yourself drugs. Only in the event of a real nuclear emergency, currently non-existent in our country, will the Civil Protection give precise indications on how and when to implement a possible intervention of iodine prophylaxis on a pharmacological basis for the entire population “, warns the Higher Institute of Health concerned about the irrational rush that is also taking place in Italy to the purchase of iodine tablets and even (for those who can afford it) the availability of an ad hoc shelter.
Indoor shelters for the population and distribution of iodine-based drugs are actually among the countermeasures provided for by the Nuclear Safety Plan that Italy has available since 2010 and the latest update of which has just been signed by the head of Civil Protection Fabrizio Curcio . But these are direct interventions on the population that would be applied only if the source of the contamination was within 200 kilometers of the Italian territory, the most serious of the three phases envisaged by the Plan, therefore certainly not adequate for a possible emergency in the power plants. Ukrainians which are more than 1,000 kilometers away.
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A possible emergency would be managed in Rome in the Cevad operations room of the National Inspectorate for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection directed by Maurizio Pernice, who constantly monitors the situation in contact with the European network. He too launches the appeal: “No unjustified psychosis, no rush to the pharmacy, there is no reason to stock up on iodine tablets (which, moreover, it makes no sense to take preventively and never without medical supervision) nor think about bunker Given the distances from Ukraine, for us the benchmark remains Chernobyl. In the sense that a possible accident could have the same repercussions in Italy as in 1986, therefore not directly on people but on the territory “.
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Let’s try to explain better: the national plan for the management of radiological and nuclear emergencies provides three steps calibrated on the extent of the accident but above all on the distance from the Italian territory: within 200 km from national borders, between 200 and 1,000 and in non-European territory. “Indicative distances – explains the director Pernice in the emergency management headquarters – with an assessment of the scenarios connected to weather conditions, the direction and strength of the wind, mathematical models of atmospheric dispersion, any precipitation and of course connected to the magnitude of the If the radioactivity is minimal, no intervention may be necessary, otherwise there is a whole scale of actions that would come into operation: from personal interventions within 200 km as we have said to those in the area with the same indications that were given for the Chernobyl disaster, so avoid leafy vegetables, milk, or the protection of our zoo-technical heritage “.
The first step, the one with the highest risk, is the most unlikely for Italy, which does not have any nuclear plants on its territory and within the distance of 200 kilometers, only a few power plants in Slovenia, Switzerland and France. “In Italy we are still in the phase of de-installation of the four former plants of Trino, Caorso, Latina and Garigliano, which is not yet completed due to the difficulties in managing waste and slag in the absence of a single national repository. From the distribution of the plants in Europe. it is evident that the emergency phase one is very unlikely. And yet, obviously, the plan foresees it in detail also because any exposure of the population could also derive from the transport of material “. Should this ever happen, citizens would be instructed to stay at home, with doors and windows closed and the ventilation or air conditioning systems turned off, for short periods of time, from a few hours to a maximum of two days. And then specific instructions for schools and indications for iodine prophylaxis, with the aim of protecting the thyroid by avoiding the absorption of radioactive iodine, but only for certain groups of the population: children and teenagers, adults up to 40 years of age and pregnant or breastfeeding women. But only for a few hours, no later than 8 hours after any exposure. The stable iodine would be distributed on the recommendation of the Minister of Health in the affected areas.
In the second step, the one most adaptable to the current situation, the intervention would instead be limited to the precautionary block of the consumption of locally produced food and feed (fresh vegetables, fruit, meat, milk) and to measures to protect the agricultural and livestock heritage. In the event of accidents at non-European nuclear sites, the only precautions would concern the handling of materials in transit or coming from those places.
The monitoring system is continuous, 24 hours a day, with the 60 control units of the so-called Gamma network, connected to the ARPA monitoring system, which detect any presence of anomalous values. The data are processed and sent to the European control platform which puts them in line with those of other countries. “When it is said today that the situation is under control despite the fact that it is not possible to obtain reliable and timely information from the Ukrainian plants – explains the director of Isin – it is because the European control system has not detected any significant anomalies. Those, for example. , which have been reported in Ukraine have remained confined to that territory and the cause has been identified in the circulation of heavy vehicles that lift the radioactive material buried under the ground. Moreover, it does not seem that the Russian armed forces intend to damage the plants that guarantee efficiency to security systems “.
In the event of any type of alarm from the control units and evaluation systems, the emergency system managed by ISIN would be triggered together with the Civil Protection Department which is also responsible for the classification of the type of emergency. The plan also provides for the possible return to safety of Italian citizens interested abroad by exposure to nuclear or radioactive material.