Japan to seek data from Ukraine on effects of Chernobyl accident
TOKYO (Kyodo) — Japan will begin negotiations with Ukraine later this month for an agreement to obtain data on the effects of low-level radiation exposure and soil contamination accumulated by Kyiv since the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown of 1986, government officials said Thursday.
The Japanese government will use the data in treating people exposed to radiation in the Fukushima nuclear crisis, the officials said.
The agreement will cover data on the effects of nuclear accidents on human health and the environment as well as the exchange of researchers and engineers, and joint seminars.
With the Fukushima and Chernobyl disasters both given the maximum crisis severity level of 7 on the international scale, Ukraine’s detailed data on treatment and contamination will enable Japan to implement “effective measures” to address the effects of radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant crippled by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, a Foreign Ministry official said.
Japanese lawmakers asked the Ukrainian government for its cooperation when they visited the country in October last year.
Entering areas located within a 30-kilometer radius of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine is still banned as radioactive substances remain widely scattered.