Safecast and SaveDnipro Celebrate 25 Radiation Sensors Deployed in Ukraine — with More to Follow

Citizen-led radiation monitoring platform Safecast, working with SaveDnipro, has announced the completion of the first phase in a project to deliver an independent, real-time radiation monitoring system for Ukraine — with 25 RADNOTE sensor units now active.

"We are addressing vulnerabilities we've seen in the official radiation monitoring systems in Ukraine and elsewhere, and will supplement official capabilities in a transparent way," Safecast lead researcher Azby Brown explains. "As we learned following the Fukushima disaster in 2011, the public needs clear information about risks like those posed by the reckless Russian occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Official sources are usually unprepared to provide the kind of information the public needs, especially when stressed by conflict or disaster."

Safecast launched in 2011 in response to the tsunami that damaged Japan's Fukishima Daiichi nuclear power station, developing the hardware and software required for citizens to be able to provide accurate real-time radiation monitoring to address gaps in official coverage. Now, the organization is doing the same in Ukraine — partnering with SaveDnipro, which had already launched a site aggregating data from existing publicly-available radiation monitors in the country. Key to the expanded coverage: autonomous data-gathering devices dubbed RADNOTES.

"At the start of the Russian full-scale invasion we didn’t have much experience with citizen-science based radiation monitoring, and the nation had insufficient real-time data," SaveDnipro's technical director Pavlo Tkachenko admits. "Thanks to international support like SaveDnipro's partnership with Safecast, our knowledge and our technical capabilities have grown immensely. Our ability to deploy RADNOTES is a prime example of this. Civil society organizations like SaveDnipro can often respond more rapidly and flexibly than authorities can, collecting data and deploying sensors in places they are unable to due to strict regulations. We consider it our duty to help the Ukrainian government ensure public safety in this difficult wartime situation."

A RADNOTE is a compact real-time radiation monitor housed in a weatherproof case, designed to Safecast's specifications by Internet of Things (IoT) specialist Blues. A transparent cover allows the device to harvest solar energy, while a Blues Notecard provides cellular connectivity — allowing it to be deployed in areas where wired networks and Wi-Fi coverage is unreliable or outright unavailable. Over 100 units have been built, with the organizations now celebrating deployment of the first 25 — all funded entirely by donations.

More information on the project is available on the Safecast website, with live data available on the SaveEcoBot site.