Remote Work Using the “SEARCH” Method in Ukraine’s State Programs
For the first time in history, during 2004–2010, the “SEARCH” method was used to remotely detect thousands of containers with chemical warfare agents, underwater uranium ore deposits, hundreds of tons of World War II munitions, sunken torpedoes, naval mines, ships, and more across 60,000 km² of land, based on decoding analog satellite images.
These works were carried out under the state programs:
- “Meganom – Search and Destruction of Chemical Weapon Remnants Sunken in the Coastal Zones of the Black and Azov Seas within Ukraine’s Territorial Waters”
- “Comprehensive Environmental Cleanup of the Azov-Black Sea Coastal Areas from Industrial and Domestic Waste with Aquatory Passportization.”
In 2007, commissioned by the Ministry of Fuel and Energy of Ukraine, under the state program “Ensuring Sustainable Development of Uranium Ore Mining and Primary Processing for 2006–2030,” the “SEARCH” method was used for uranium deposit identification through several projects, including:
- “Investigation of the Novokostiantynivskyi Mine industrial site at the 0–300 m horizon to delineate uranium ore bodies” (resulting in the discovery of 2 new uranium ore bodies);
- “Identification of potential uranium ore deposits along the underground communication routes of the Novokostiantynivske-Dokuchaievske and Novokostiantynivske-Lisove deposits.”
In 2008, planned work under the Ministry of Fuel and Energy Program-6 was completed, including:
- “Remote study of natural gas accumulations within the Novokostiantynivske uranium ore deposit”;
- “Study of industrial waste characteristics in the lanthanum fraction tailings storage facility at structure No. 602”;
- “Detailed ground exploration to locate local uranium deposits using nuclear magnetic resonance within the Smolinska mine’s mining area.”