MOSCOW, August 30 (AVN) - An expedition of the Emergencies Ministry's service for special operations in water areas will start working in the Sea of Okhotsk in a few days to find a lost radioactive generator, Khamzat Bekov, head of the ministry's department for federal support of territories, said on Thursday.
The expedition will search for the RIEG-1 radioisotope energy generator that was dropped from a helicopter as a result of a breakdown in 1997, Bekov told the Military News Agency. The operation will also involve the Pacific Fleet hydrographic service, 403th hydro-meteorological centre and Priboi plant.
The GS-404 and BGK-796 special vessels of the hydrographic service will leave Vladivostok on Saturday. They will head for Cape Maria in the north of the Sakhalin Island, where the generator was lost, to serve as a basis for all works.
"The main missions at the current stage is to define the exact place of the dangerous object's burial, assess its technical condition and monitor the radiation level and state of environment in the area," Bekov said.