Galway Bay fm newsroom - An NUI Galway scientist is investigating the effect of 30 years of exposure to radiation on Chernobyl soils.
The Chernobyl explosion in 1986, the most well-known nuclear accident in history, deposited excess radioactive material throughout Europe.
To this day, parts of Scandinavia and the British Islands have higher than expected levels of radiation in their soil due to contamination from Chernobyl.
Microbiologist, Dr Alexandre B de Menezes from the School of Natural Sciences at NUI Galway has teamed up with researchers from Ukraine and the UK for the study.
The team travelled to Chernobyl to sample its soils and investigate what effect the exposure to radiation has had on its microorganisms.
DNA from these soils will be sequenced using cutting-edge techniques to reveal its population of bacteria.
The results of the study will be published early next year.
The outcomes will help determine why radiation is persisting in the soil, and offer new clues as to how to speed up recovery of the ecosystem.
