No need to take iodine in case of Russian terrorist act at Zaporizhzhya NPP — scientists
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None of the possible scenarios at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant would require Ukrainians to take iodine as protection from radioactivity, the State Scientific and Technical Center for Nuclear and Radiation Safety reported on Facebook on June 22.
Radioactive iodine is produced only when the reactor is generating electricity, and the last operating reactor at the plant was shut down in September 2022.
Currently, all reactors are shut down and have not generated electricity for at least nine months, the agency said.
Of the iodine isotopes, iodine I-131 has the longest half-life, which is about eight days, after which the amount of radioactive substance is halved. This, in turn, means that at least 34 half-lives of this isotope of iodine have taken place since the shutdown of the reactors, and its radioactivity in the last shut-down reactor at the plant has decreased billions of times compared to September 2022.
Thus, if there is a release of radioactive substances in the case of a hypothetical accident or terrorist act at the plant, no radioactive iodine isotopes will be released.
In contrast, the scientists stressed that the unnecessary taking of Potassium Iodide could cause harm to health, while ingestion of iodine tincture, Betadine, or Lugol's solution can cause serious burns to the mucous membrane, as well as poisoning.
The agency also urged everyone to trust only official sources of information.
Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said on June 20, that Russian forces had mined the cooling pond at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, though Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, insisted on June 21 that no mining had been observed.
Grossi has warned that the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station and Dam poses a threat to the operation of the nuclear plant, as the necessary water level for cooling the reactors could be lost within a few weeks.
Following his visit to the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant on June 15, Grossi reported that the situation was serious but stabilizing.
Current water levels in the cooling pond are enough to sustain the plant for up to a year, Ukraine's nuclear operator Energoatom has stated.
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