Chisinau: Moldova has imported one million iodine pills as fighting rages around a nuclear power station in neighboring Ukraine, Euronews reported.

However, Moldova, with a population of 2.5 million people, insists locals should not panic.

Shelling has intensified near Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant – the largest of its kind in Europe – with the UN warning fighting could “lead to disaster”.

Now Moldova, which borders Ukraine and is 480km from the power station, has shipped in iodine pills donated by Romania, to be taken in case of a nuclear emergency.

The tablets can prevent radioactive elements from building up in the body.They work to stop radioactive iodine from being absorbed into people’s thyroid glands, which can develop cancer if infected by radiation.

Moldova’s government says it has seen no increase in radiation levels and said people must wait for official instruction before taking the pills, which are being stored at local medical facilities.