June 3, 2023

MUI Daily News

Complete British News World

War in Ukraine: Europe withdraws millions of iodine tablets from its strategic reserves in case of nuclear accident in Ukraine

The Ukrainian government wants to be prepared in case of a problem around the Zaporijjia power station, which has been occupied by Russian troops for months and saw renewed bombings on Tuesday.

The European Commission said on Tuesday it had received a recent request from Ukrainian authorities for help building up a stockpile of potassium iodide tablets. So the EU civil protection mechanism has collected 5.5 million tablets in recent days, including 5 million from European strategic reserves (rescEU reserves) and 500,000 from Austria, Belga news agency reported.

According to the Commission communication, tablets are used in certain situations to prevent the absorption of inhaled or ingested radioactive iodine by the thyroid.

In this context, a team of 14 experts from the United Nations nuclear watchdog arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday, August 30, ahead of their planned trip to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in the southeast of Ukraine this weekend. .

Members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) delegation were spotted by CNN reporters at their hotel in the Ukrainian capital on Tuesday morning.

The IAEA visit comes amid renewed bombing of the facility and growing fears of a nuclear accident. The mission is headed by IAEA President Rafael Croci, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said Monday.

See also  Elizabeth II's coffin en route to London for a grand funeral