4 free pills for every Vilnius resident: calls to visit pharmacy before Astravo NPP start-up

A. Bužinskas reported on the fact that the municipality of the capital, the Ministry of Health and the representatives of the most important pharmacy chains managed to agree on this in the program “Delfi Tema”.

“This week in Vilnius we will start to distribute potassium iodide tablets. Information will be disseminated, each registered resident of Vilnius will be able to take the two-day fee, that is, four tablets,” he said.

A municipal spokesperson said there was some concern that residents would be slow to pick them up, but advised doing so as the tablets would come in handy in the event of an accident at the Astrava nuclear power plant.

“It is advisable to have them at home,” said A. Bužinskas. – We have written electronic prescriptions for potassium iodide tablets. The person comes with their identity document and takes the pills. If people cannot come on their own, they can give their authorized representative an identity document, which can also be used for withdrawal. “

It was previously announced that electricity generation at the Astravas nuclear power plant, located 50 kilometers from Vilnius, is expected to begin on November 7.

The most important thing is not to panic

Virgilijus Poderys, chairman of the Seimas Energy and Sustainable Development Commission, who participated in the program, noted that such accidents at nuclear power plants, when “a radioactive cloud is released and travels many kilometers,” are extremely rare.

“But there are a lot of all kinds of ‘micro events’. Therefore, it is important that we do not panic to every event of this type. It happens that a couple of times a year the power plant automatically shuts down for various reasons. For example, protection is activated.

It is important that we not “trolled” in this place, given the operation of social networks, the size of the population that can reach in a matter of seconds, “he said.

V. Poderys emphasized that in such cases it is not radiation but people’s panic that is the biggest problem.

For his part, A. Bužinskas recalled that last weekend a false message was spread on the Facebook messaging platform that a radioactive cloud was supposedly coming from Astrava, the authorities know, but do not make any decision.

“This false news was not very widespread, but there was a need to react, and since we have constantly monitored air pollution, etc., the authorities reacted, we also denied it. The bubble burst, ”he said.

A representative of the municipality said that even after the arrival of the X-day, residents must first follow the information from the official authorities.

“Residents should wait for information from official institutions. It will be through warning messages, television, internet, radio. Whether you need to drink potassium iodide when, or going out, or being locked up at home, do not go anywhere It is recommended that everyone have 3 days of food and clean water at home, “he said.

For his part, the rector of the Vytautas Magnus University, Juozas Augutis, considered that it is impossible to live a life every morning waking up with a cold sweat or looking out the window and waiting for some sign.

“The basic principle of living in an area accessible to a nuclear power plant is to have at least one reliable connection to receive information. If something happens, the first thing to do is protect yourself against the radionuclide particles in the air.

This can be done as deep as possible. It must be closed in the rooms, at home. In no way try to go to the station or drive your own cars. If there were an evacuation, it would go hand in hand with decontamination by special means. It’s much safer, “he said.

The professor also hoped that due to the political processes in Belarus, the Astrava nuclear power plant would be more open to foreign experts in the future.

“Perhaps in the future decisions will be made that radically solve this problem,” he said.

Unresolved issues

A. Bužinskas also said that the Astravas Nuclear Power Plant in Vilnius is not yet fully prepared for a possible accident.

“I could name three practical problems in preparation. First, we cover only a third of the warning siren network in Vilnius. Residents also write that the system was being tested, but we heard nothing. So is. Vilnius needs around 108 mermaids and we have 35, ”he said.

According to A. Bužinskas, the installation of the sirens should be financed by the Fire Protection and Rescue Department (PAGD), but it does not.

“We see ridiculous amounts of the municipal budget, but we install at least 6 new sirens a year,” said the interlocutor.

The second problem mentioned by A. Bužinskas is the unavailability of the information message network.

“When there is a storm, we receive a message on the phone and it is controlled by PAGD, but a large part of Vilnius residents do not receive those messages. There are bureaucratic-technical issues regarding the purchase of licenses, etc., that PAGD , for its part, has not done ”, he said.

Finally, according to A. Bužinskas, the city is not completely self-sufficient.

“This is a function assigned to the municipality with the intention that it be financed. Now, to say the least, we cannot have enough clean water tanks, warehouses or food rations to supply the city. We also won’t see how this will be resolved in the near future. We would like more help from the central government, “he said.