‘Contact’ may be satellite debris

Press, 27 January 1978, Page 5

‘Contact’ may be satellite debris

NZPA-Reuter Ottawa A Canadian aircraft searching for radiation from a Soviet spy satellite’ that [crashed over Canada on Tuesday has detected what (could be radioactive debris, ! according to a Canadian deIfence spokesman.

He said that the Hercules (equipped with radiation senIsors and making a low-level .sweep over an uninhabited area of Canada’s north-west (territories had reported a [highly probable contact on 'the ground. I The spokesman said furither action would be decided [once analysis of the radiation was completed. He said the contact had been made about 350 km east north-east of Fort Reliance, a tiny fishin» community usually uninhabited in winter. at the western tip of Great Slave Lake.

[ This was the general area where the satellite, loaded [with about 1001 b of uranium (235 to power its small nu- ■ clear reactor, made a fiery

descent a'ter falling out of orbit. Canadian and United States officiaus had previously expressed Confidence there was little chance of debris reaching the ground. , The spokesman emphasised (that the area where the radiation was detected did not appear to be inhabited.

Ground teams have been searching for signs of radia tion in the Great Slave Lake area but their work has been hampered by bad weather. The Canadian Government has been seeking technical infoirnation from the Soviet Union on the precise nature of the uranium fuel carried by the stricken satellite.

Canadian and United States officials said the satellite almost certainly burned up before it reached the ground and there was little danger of harmful contamination.

A communique by the Soviet news agency, Tass, said the Cosmos 954 underwent sudden depressurisation while out of radio contact.