Nuclear accident hoax panics Hungarians

Budapest (Platts)--16Jun2005

Reports of a serious nuclear accident spooked Hungarian residents this week,
causing panic buying of iodine tablets. "This is now the second time that hoax
reports of a nuclear accident or accidents, propagated by e-mail or mobile
telephone, have caused unnecessary alarm among the population of Hungary," the
Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority (HAEA) said in a statement. Authorities in
neighboring countries had reported no problems, the HAEA said, and Hungary's
own measuring systems indicated only normal background radiation. Panic was
reported in the town of Tatabanya, where residents stormed pharmacies for
iodine tablets at the urging of e-mail and text messages, according to the
news portal Origo. Initial reports several days ago claimed radiation at
Ukraine's Chernobyl plant was even higher than in 1986; later reports said a
nuclear accident had occurred in Slovakia or in the Czech Republic. One
pharmacy reported a fistfight between customers over iodine tablets, according
to Origo.

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