It will never happen, at least we all hope so. But there are too many things that shouldn’t have happened and instead have happened and are happening, in the war unleashed by Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Thus, while fears of attacks on nuclear power plants in Ukraine and of possible toxic clouds arriving on our country grow, the Italian government takes cover and updates its ‘National Plan for the management of radiological and nuclear emergencies’. The objective, reads the plan developed by the Civil Protection, “to prepare the necessary measures to deal with the consequences of accidents in nuclear power plants located across the border”. Plants that can be “close to the national border, in Europe or in non-European countries”.
The outline of the decree, which tomorrow will be examined by the Unified Conference for an opinion, precisely foresees different scenarios depending on where nuclear attacks or disasters may occur. And the measurements and responses are evaluated based on distance: within 200 kilometers, between 200 and 100 kilometers and beyond this distance, or outside the European borders.
First scenario: within 200 km
The plan provides for the population to be ordered to lock themselves in the house for an estimated time of around two days, to block traffic and to require iodine prophylaxis for young, pregnant women. Specifically, we read, “The measure of shelter indoors consists in instructing the population to stay in homes, with doors and windows closed and the ventilation or air conditioning systems off, for short periods of time, usually a few hours, with a maximum limit reasonably set at two days “.
The objective of the measure is to avoid “inhalation and external radiation deriving from the passage of the radioactive cloud and from the re-suspension of the radioactive material deposited on the ground”. In addition to these first measures for health security, the plan also provides for the government to take over the import of food products from the country in question and from neighboring ones. And that to inform citizens about the developments of the situation is the Civil Protection: “Single national responsible for the management of information with coordination functions”. A unitary and coordinated management of communication – explained in the plan – is essential to avoid the dissemination of unsafe news and unsupported by reliable data. It is essential that the messages conveyed are unique and unambiguous.
Second scenario: between 200 and 1000 km
The distance, in this case, is such as to impose less drastic measures: only indirect measures would be triggered, from controls in the food sector and on imports from abroad. But with a series of extra attentions: the weather factor, for example, could have an impact especially in the event of strong winds: in this case it will be the Civil Protection that assesses the increase in risks.
Third scenario: over 1000 km
Controls, in this scenario, would be limited to the production chain and imports.
No alarmism
The ‘National Plan for the management of radiological and nuclear emergencies’ should be approved next week: meanwhile, the Higher Institute of Health has advised against the use of do-it-yourself drugs, especially at a time when in Italy “no there is no real nuclear emergency. ” The clarification after the rush to buy iodine-based pills, to protect themselves from radiation damage. “It should be noted that currently in Italy only the use of iodized salt is recommended for the preparation and storage of food”, specifies the ISS, “while the do-it-yourself use of preparations containing high quantities of iodine is not recommended. they could have negative consequences for the organism, including functional blockade of the thyroid gland ».