1/11,000,00

I found out from my father that I was one of 11,000,000 million children in Poland to be given potassium iodide one week after the Chernobyl nuclear power-plant accident (see previous post). He thinks, however, that officials waited too long before providing the substance, and therefore, its effect would be minimal. He also expressed his doubts about when exactly the Polish government knew about the accident. He remembers that there was some talk of radiation alarms sounding on ships in the Gdansk shipyard, but that government officials claimed these were merely tests. My mother thinks she remembers Swedish officials sending warning messages over TV and radio by broadcasting overtop of Polish media. To me it sounds like this was quite a fiasco, and I'm disappointed the Polish government didn't stand-up to the Soviets sooner.