Spy satellites monitor China's nuclear weapon sites for earthquake damage
International Herald Tribune: China's main centers for designing, making and storing nuclear arms lie in the shattered earthquake zone, leading Western experts to look for signs of any damage that might allow radioactivity to escape.
A senior federal official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the issue, said the United States was using spy satellites and other means to try to monitor the sprawling nuclear plants. "There appear to be no immediate concerns," the official said.
Nonetheless, "it's potentially a serious issue," Hans Kristensen, a nuclear arms expert at the Federation of American Scientists, a private group in Washington, said in an interview. "Radioactive materials could be released if there's damage."
China began building the plants in the 1960s, calculating that their remote locations would make them less vulnerable to enemy attack.
Associated Press reporter Anita Chang also writes in the Washington Post that China's nuclear safety agency had ordered staffers to be prepared for an environmental emergency the day after the earthquake. Aftershocks are still occurring in the region, some of which are up to magnitude 7.5. According to the French government, China's civilian nuclear facilities suffered only minor damage during the quake. Update 5/27/2008 According to the China Daily, an aftershock on Sunday that was 6.4 on the Richter scale destroyed 71,000 more homes and killed 6 people. The current death toll from the initial earthquake has topped 50,000.
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A senior federal official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the issue, said the United States was using spy satellites and other means to try to monitor the sprawling nuclear plants. "There appear to be no immediate concerns," the official said.
Nonetheless, "it's potentially a serious issue," Hans Kristensen, a nuclear arms expert at the Federation of American Scientists, a private group in Washington, said in an interview. "Radioactive materials could be released if there's damage."
China began building the plants in the 1960s, calculating that their remote locations would make them less vulnerable to enemy attack.
Associated Press reporter Anita Chang also writes in the Washington Post that China's nuclear safety agency had ordered staffers to be prepared for an environmental emergency the day after the earthquake. Aftershocks are still occurring in the region, some of which are up to magnitude 7.5. According to the French government, China's civilian nuclear facilities suffered only minor damage during the quake. Update 5/27/2008 According to the China Daily, an aftershock on Sunday that was 6.4 on the Richter scale destroyed 71,000 more homes and killed 6 people. The current death toll from the initial earthquake has topped 50,000.
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The Chengdu Earthquake
