Boeing Radiation Detection Plane Sent for Japan Nuclear Crisis
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The Pentagon is sending a Boeing Co. plane, equipped to detect radioactive “clouds” from nuclear tests, to sample air for radiation from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan.
The WC-135W Constant Phoenix, a modified Boeing C-135, has equipment designed to collect particulates and whole-air samples, according to the U.S. Air Force. The craft, similar in size to a Boeing 707 airliner, usually is used for monitoring required by the 1963 Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which prohibits above-ground nuclear weapons testing.