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Russia to again decontaminate Proton-M crash site -1

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ASTANA, September 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is due to carry out on Thursday the third decontamination of the launch site of a Proton-M rocket which crashed earlier this month, a Kazakh emergencies ministry spokesman said.

Russian experts will clear the area where the rocket's booster came down after post-decontamination laboratory tests revealed on Wednesday that toxic fuel concentration in 13 of 20 soil samples taken from the site exceeded permitted levels.

Another team will conclude soil remediation at the second-stage crash site in the central Kazakh steppe, which was also polluted following the crash.

On September 6, the Proton-M rocket, with a Japanese satellite onboard, was launched from the Baikonur space center. However, 139 seconds into its flight it experienced engine malfunction and second-stage separation failure, and crashed 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of the town of Zhezkazgan.

The Proton is a heavy rocket which uses highly toxic heptyl as fuel.

Search teams have surveyed a total of 1,743 square kilometers (1,083 sq miles) of territory around the crash site and have found 119 rocket fragments.

Astana and Moscow earlier decided to suspend Proton-M launches from Baikonur until the cause of the accident is established.

Commander of the Space Forces Lieutenant-General Vladimir Popovkin said the results of the investigation into the crash would be announced by the end of the week.

He also said Proton-M launches will be resumed after Russia compensates Kazakhstan for ecological damage caused by the crash.

Last year, a Russian Dnepr rocket crashed on lift off from Baikonur, after which a special commission was formed to assess the resulting environmental damage. On the basis of its findings, Russia paid Kazakhstan $1.1 million in compensation for the damage.

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