Schools/Education

Research

CCPI has funded the work of respected independent scientist Professor Vasily Nesterenko, a member of the Academy of Sciences of Belarus and a Director of the Belarussian Institute of Radiation Safety, for a number of years in order to develop a programme which maps radioactive contamination in the land and to monitor radioactive contamination in children in Belarus.

The Mobile Radiation Monitoring Unit is a major breakthrough in scientific research as it means that children from the contaminated zones can be monitored on a long-term basis. The Testing Units were designed by scientists in the Ukraine in the aftermath of Chernobyl. The practical application of this technology is that it allows CCPI to identify the children who are most in need of rest, recuperation and medical treatment in Ireland.

It also allows CCPI to monitor the extent to which children have benefited from recuperative holidays in Ireland. In 1998 tests showed that children examined on their return had reduced their contamination levels by 30%- 50%. CCPI fund three Mobile Radiation Monitoring Units at US$16,000 per unit, the transport of the units and other equipment necessary to identify the presence of radioactive materials in soil.

CCPI also work in close contact with Belarusian scientific researchers who have dedicated their lives attempting to find a solution to radiation-related illnesses and assisting the people of Belarus to live their lives as best they can in their poisoned environment.