States need to take Flamanville seriously
I AM grateful that there was no nuclear fallout at the recent Flamanville explosion but I am concerned at the response of States officer, Kevin Murphy, who said there should be no concern as this was not a nuclear explosion. If there was a nuclear explosion and the wind was in the right direction then the islands could be covered by clouds of nuclear fallout in an hour or two.
The response in Belgium was to provide the whole population with potassium iodide pills to take immediately if a nuclear event occurred. These pills are absorbed by the thyroid gland so that radioactive iodine components do not get absorbed.
We would not have the time to distribute iodine pills if there was a nuclear incident so it is important to be proactive and therefore I cannot agree with Kevin Murphy's 'do nothing' response. The States should issue pills as soon as possible and an alarm system should be put in place to notify the population of an explosion.
MIKE COLLINS,
Past deputy and nuclear physicist.
Editor's footnote: Kevin Murphy, States of Guernsey emergency planning officer, replied:
In reference to your correspondent's concern regarding iodine tablets, French authorities last year took the decision to expand the zone where iodine tablets are issued for use in a nuclear emergency, from 10km to 20km from nuclear power stations. Guernsey is 40km from Flamanville, Sark is 35km, and Alderney is 30km away.
We reviewed the issue of iodine tablets twice last year following both the re-distribution of iodine tablets in early 2016 and once again after the French decision to expand the zone to 20km in mid-2016. In both instances after careful consideration we concluded that it wasn't a cost-effective solution to stockpile iodine tablets. By way of comparison, at Fukushima (the second most serious nuclear incident after Chernobyl) the evacuation zone was for anyone within 20km. Official advice for anyone more than 20km away was to shelter indoors and await further guidance.
Your correspondent can rest assured that the States of Guernsey certainly does not take a 'do nothing' approach. We have a Memorandum of Understanding with the French authorities setting out that Guernsey would be alerted very quickly if any nuclear incident occurred, and we have local subject matter experts available immediately in the event of this type of incident. We will also call on the advice and assistance of the UK if needed.
In such circumstances, we would use a critical communications system to alert the public and issue clear instructions on what actions to take. This would be carried out via the Joint Emergency Services Control Centre. Please note that, due to data protection legislation, the States of Guernsey would be authorised to utilise this technology in this way only if there was a critical incident. We would also utilise both social and tradition media to keep the public informed.
