National Atomic Energy Agency

The Zaporizhzhya NPP is the largest nuclear facility in Europe. The military action at a nuclear power plant is of unprecedented gravity. Although nuclear power plants are equipped with a number of security features in case of technical emergency, human error, natural powers or aircraft crash, no power plant is designed for military action and should never be the target. It must be stressed that as yet the military action at the site has not caused any damage to the systems important for radiation safety – according to the information about the situation provided regularly by the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU) to PAA.

Recently, SNRIU informed PAA about the shelling of the Zaporizhzhya combined heat power (CHP) plant, which is only 3 km away from the Zaporizhzhya NPP. In the aftermath of the shelling, the reserve auxiliary transformers at the CHP were damaged. For several hours one power transmission line between the CHP and NPP was out of use. These events have not caused radiation emergency.

There is no threat to health and life of people and the environment in Poland. The PAA has state-of-the-art systems in place to foresee the development of any radiation emergency. PAA experts perform various simulations in case of emergency at Zaporizhzhya NPP. The facility is ca. 840 km away from the Polish border. The distance provides protection against the consequences of radiation emergency. For Poland, the dilution of radioactive contaminants in the atmosphere is also crucial (the bigger the distance, the smaller the concentration) and climatic conditions associated with the NPP site (landscape, wind direction and speed, precipitation). These create a barrier to dispersion of potential radioactive contaminants over the Polish territory.

The National Atomic Energy Agency constantly monitors the radiation situation in the country 24/7. The readings of the measuring instruments are within normal range. The radiation situation map is accessible to everyone in Poland on the PAA website at: https://www.gov.pl/web/paa/sytuacja-radiacyjna.

If there is no radiation emergency, the PAA strongly advises not to take stable iodine, also Lugol’s iodine. The PAA notes that the self-reliant, unnecessary consumption of such iodine preparations may damage one’s health. The unnecessary taking of stable iodine may damage the thyroid gland and result in hyperthyroidism. In some patients, including those with circulatory disorder, this may cause threat to health and life.