To wonder why no iodine was given after Chernobyl blew up!

[Abbazed]

That really to wonder why no iodine was given to people after Chernobyl? Cost? To avoid fear? Lack of knowledge of the benefits?

I’ve spent the last 20 years insisting to doctors that I have never been to Russia

Chernobyl is in Ukraine.

I lived in Scotland at the time, and a friend of mine who worked in Holland & Barrett said they were inundated with requests for Iodine tablets.

Sweden were the first country to officially contact Moscow ( Ukraine was then part of the USSR), but that was not until late on the Monday, after the explosion happened on the previous Saturday.

However, where I was working at the time (RAF base in Scotland) we all knew there was some sort of flap on, but didn’t quite know what it was. Rumours were rife, and we were all worried that a nuclear bomb had gone off somewhere, and it was a pre- cursor to WW3. It was a very worrying time. Daft, and callous, as it may sound, we were quite relieved when it was announced about the nuclear accident. Initially we all thought it was going to escalate into Armageddon.

The Welsh Lamb “Ban”, was not lifted until 2012.

I have family in Norway and they all
Have iodine

Regarding iodine, it is only necessary for certain types of situations and has to be given very quickly. It can also do more harm than good in certain situations.

Rest assured, there are stocks of iodine ready in strategic locations, that can be distributed quickly, should the need arise.

I think they decided against routine distribution 'just in case' because obviously people move in and out of the area, or might not be able to find the tablets in the event of any accident.

I've always been interested in the disaster. The new programme on Sky Atlantic seems great so far.

The following is probably a bit boring for everyone, but ironically it was caused by running a safety test.

The reactors need continuous cooling, even after they have been shut down. Normally the cooling pumps were driven by the electricity generated by the power station itself, but if it stopped producing power, they were reliant on diesel generators to drive the cooling pumps instead. The safety test simulated a shut down to see how long the cooling pumps could continue to circulate the cooling water, until the diesel generators fired up.

The old Soviet reactors needed to be run at high power. At low power they were very unstable and, once run at low power for a length of time, it was extremely difficult to get the power to rise.

In the preparation for the test somebody made a mistake and dropped the power far too low, and they couldn't get it back up again.

So they completely removed all of the control rods (which are designed to keep the power levels under control, and also used to shut the reactor down in an emergency) to try to get the power up again.

They managed it, and started the test.

However, without any control rods, there was an unexpected power surge. They noticed it and frantically tried to get the control rods back in, but the control rods had a weird characteristic and design flaw, which meant as the tips were first inserted (after being completely removed), it led to an even bigger power surge.

This damaged the channels that the control rods need to move through, and they got jammed.

After that there was no way to control the reactor and the power went higher and higher, boiling off all of the coolant water, creating an enormous amount of steam pressure, until the whole roof of the reactor exploded into the air.

It was also given in Poland to pregnant women in 1987/8, but remember most of those toxic clouds blew and settled over Scandinavia. We so very little on the continent.

There is a really excellent podcast “the Chernobyl podcast” that examines each episode with the writer/director. Loads of info about the decisions that were taken and why etc.

In the UK every nuclear site will has planned provision for potassium iodate tablets in case of an Off Site Emergency involving release of radioactive iodine. The plans for each site will vary depending on local circumstances. Stocks might be held at hospitals, schools, reception centres, or distributed to households in advance, it will depend on the assessment of what is the most efficient method for them to be taken quickly if there is an off-site release of radioactive iodine. They have to do this as part of their emergency planning to be allowed to operate. There are also centrally held national stocks. I’ve worked up and down the country on numerous nuclear sites.

ironically it was caused by running a safety test

I had it in my head that there was some sort of test going on - thanks for the reminder. I don't have Sky Atlantic so can't watch it but maybe it will be shown again on another channel sometime.

Seeing the comments about Hunterston reminds me of an article that appeared at the time (probably in the Sunday Express that my parents used to buy, sorry) about Hinckley Point in Somerset and saying that if something similar happened there "the M5 would become a nightmare road to nowhere". I've always remembered that but suspect a similar incident could not happen there.

I was in Germany at the time and the feeling was that it had been inevitable that something would happen. I was also in the military and we instantly went on high alert which was... fun.

I'm still in Germany - near the Belgian border. They have a decrepit nuclear power station there that has alarms horribly often. In my area they have distributed Iodine ready for the big one. Which is… fun.

I was in Poland then and we were given a disgusting liquid to drink on several occasions. I’m guessing from what you said it might have been iodine but would need to check with my mother.

There was a lot of human error associated with the Chernobyl Incident. Didn't help that the safety test was performed late at night and it was either a Sunday or bank holiday the day after so people could have been potentially rushing. (I've also worked in a power station where we had a training package about human error and obviously Chernobyl was the biggest case study!)

Things are a lot safer now, after Chernobyl a group was set up that will regularly inspect nuclear power stations around the world (kinda like an Ofsted for power stations)

There were also whisperings around the time of how it would affect the future fertility of the children in the UK around the time, especially those who were still in the womb and those recently born who were formula fed (because of the tap water).

There were worries about breastfed babies too in areas (like the one I lived in) that got their water from Wales. Not just fertility, about the increased possibility of certain cancers in children.

I wonder whether some of it was that it was left too late. It took a while before they realised how bad it was - they just thought there was a cooling tank and a building on fire and it took quite a while to accept that the actual reactor blew.

By that point, there would presumably have been quite a lot of radiation that it may have been too late.

There was an element of keeping it quiet to prevent panic/affect the standing of the Soviet Union and it was not expected it would happen so they may well have not had enough stocks anyway.

www.amazon.co.uk/Chernobyl-Prayer-Chronicle-Penguin-Classics/dp/0241270537?tag=mumsnetforu03-21 marvellous but Harrowing book on the subject

CalmdownJanet ah yes,the choose your favourite child in advance pills. They hadn't used the census or anything to see how many people in each home so some ended up with extra, most people not enough for the doses listed.

@lisalocketlostherpocket
It's on Now TV so you could sign up and watch it that way, there's a 7 day free trial.

I was in school in those days, in a nearby country in Eastern Europe. We were given boxes of iodine pills ( nurses came to schools and every child got the medication), we were meant to take one little pill a day, I don't remember well for how long. One month? Three?

Hindsight is a wonderful thing....