Ukraine, Japan to monitor Chernobyl and Fukushima from space
Source: phys.org
Ukraine and Japan on Monday agreed to launch a joint satellite project to track the state of crippled Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear plants, sites of the world’s greatest nuclear disasters.
"We have agreed on cooperation in the space sector to monitor the regions surrounding Chernobyl and Fukushima," Japan’s Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters after talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Leonid Kozhara.
The project aims to put into orbit by 2014 eight miniature satellites to gather information on the effects of radioactive fallout on the areas adjacent to the plants.According to the Japanese foreign ministry, it will be a joint project of Tokyo University and the Ukrainian state space agency with launches of Japanese-developed satellites by Ukrainian carrier rockets.
In March 2011, an earthquake and tsunami caused meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear plant in northeast Japan. Cleanup after the disaster is expected to take around four decades.
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Read the full article at: phys.org
