BEIJING — More than 30 sources of radiation were buried by debris from the massive earthquake in central China last week and all have either been recovered or safely cordoned off, state media reported Tuesday.
A French nuclear expert said the radioactive sources likely came from materials used in hospitals, factories or in research, not for weapons.
The Chinese government has previously said all nuclear facilities affected by the May 12 earthquake were safe and under control, but did not give any details about which sites were affected or whether any were damaged.
But the quake buried 32 sources of radiation under rubble in Sichuan province, the heart of the disaster zone, Xinhua News Agency reported, citing Minister of Environmental Protection Zhou Shengxian.
All but two have been recovered, and the remaining two have been located, cordoned and will soon be transported to a safer location, Xinhua said.
Xinhua did not elaborate on any potential threat to the public and did not provide details on what the radioactive materials were or where exactly they were found. It said ‘‘nuclear facilities and radioactive sources for civilian purposes ... have been confirmed safe and controllable.’’
Though Sichuan has no commercial nuclear power plants, the province has extensive military and nuclear weapons research facilities. The headquarters for China’s nuclear weapons design facility is in Mianyang and a plutonium processing facility is in Guangyuan, both cities damaged by the quake.
Hans Kristensen, a nuclear arms expert at the Federation of American Scientists, was skeptical that no information had been released by the Chinese government on damage to the nuclear weapons plants.
‘‘I find it hard to believe, given the widespread destruction in this region, that the military plants that have nuclear materials somehow escaped (the disaster’s) reach,’’ he said.
In response to the quake, the military sent soldiers to protect nuclear sites and the country’s nuclear safety agency notified staff to be prepared in case of an environmental emergency.
China’s main government Web site and a state-run newspaper described ‘‘nuclear facilities’’ and ‘‘radioactive sources’’ as including power plants, reactors, and sites for fuel production and waste disposal, as well as materials used for scientific research and medical treatment.
An official at a French nuclear watchdog who has seen reports from the Chinese nuclear safety agency said materials found in the rubble appeared to come from hospitals, factories or laboratories and were not for used for making nuclear fuel or weapons.
‘‘It doesn’t shock me that there would be radioactive items found,’’ particularly hospital equipment, said Thierry Charles, director of plant safety at the French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety.
An unknown number of hospitals were damaged or destroyed in the earthquake. The Sichuan province health department listed 489 major hospitals in areas that were hardest hit.
Kristensen said if the buried radioactive materials can be isolated and sealed quickly, there should be no risk to the public.
Workers removing radioactive material would first find it with detection devices, then extract the material and place it in a sealed container quickly, Charles said. Then it would be repaired or disposed of as nuclear waste.
Information so far suggests ‘‘a good reaction by the Chinese teams,’’ Charles said.
However, he said risks remain, primarily from any materials that have not been retrieved or sealed. People who remain in close proximity could receive excessive doses of radiation.
There was also a risk that people could be exposed to radioactivity if some materials were crushed in a building collapse, for example, he said.
Overall, he did not foresee a major risk to groundwater or health because most of the material was probably metal equipment, not fuel or something that disperses more widely.
The French watchdog agency has previously said that China reported ‘‘light damage’’ to unspecified nuclear facilities that were being dismantled before the quake.
———
Associated Press writers Angela Charlton in Paris and Lily Hindy in New York contributed to this report.
A French nuclear expert said the radioactive sources likely came from materials used in hospitals, factories or in research, not for weapons.
The Chinese government has previously said all nuclear facilities affected by the May 12 earthquake were safe and under control, but did not give any details about which sites were affected or whether any were damaged.
But the quake buried 32 sources of radiation under rubble in Sichuan province, the heart of the disaster zone, Xinhua News Agency reported, citing Minister of Environmental Protection Zhou Shengxian.
All but two have been recovered, and the remaining two have been located, cordoned and will soon be transported to a safer location, Xinhua said.
Xinhua did not elaborate on any potential threat to the public and did not provide details on what the radioactive materials were or where exactly they were found. It said ‘‘nuclear facilities and radioactive sources for civilian purposes ... have been confirmed safe and controllable.’’
Though Sichuan has no commercial nuclear power plants, the province has extensive military and nuclear weapons research facilities. The headquarters for China’s nuclear weapons design facility is in Mianyang and a plutonium processing facility is in Guangyuan, both cities damaged by the quake.
Hans Kristensen, a nuclear arms expert at the Federation of American Scientists, was skeptical that no information had been released by the Chinese government on damage to the nuclear weapons plants.
‘‘I find it hard to believe, given the widespread destruction in this region, that the military plants that have nuclear materials somehow escaped (the disaster’s) reach,’’ he said.
In response to the quake, the military sent soldiers to protect nuclear sites and the country’s nuclear safety agency notified staff to be prepared in case of an environmental emergency.
China’s main government Web site and a state-run newspaper described ‘‘nuclear facilities’’ and ‘‘radioactive sources’’ as including power plants, reactors, and sites for fuel production and waste disposal, as well as materials used for scientific research and medical treatment.
An official at a French nuclear watchdog who has seen reports from the Chinese nuclear safety agency said materials found in the rubble appeared to come from hospitals, factories or laboratories and were not for used for making nuclear fuel or weapons.
‘‘It doesn’t shock me that there would be radioactive items found,’’ particularly hospital equipment, said Thierry Charles, director of plant safety at the French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety.
An unknown number of hospitals were damaged or destroyed in the earthquake. The Sichuan province health department listed 489 major hospitals in areas that were hardest hit.
Kristensen said if the buried radioactive materials can be isolated and sealed quickly, there should be no risk to the public.
Workers removing radioactive material would first find it with detection devices, then extract the material and place it in a sealed container quickly, Charles said. Then it would be repaired or disposed of as nuclear waste.
Information so far suggests ‘‘a good reaction by the Chinese teams,’’ Charles said.
However, he said risks remain, primarily from any materials that have not been retrieved or sealed. People who remain in close proximity could receive excessive doses of radiation.
There was also a risk that people could be exposed to radioactivity if some materials were crushed in a building collapse, for example, he said.
Overall, he did not foresee a major risk to groundwater or health because most of the material was probably metal equipment, not fuel or something that disperses more widely.
The French watchdog agency has previously said that China reported ‘‘light damage’’ to unspecified nuclear facilities that were being dismantled before the quake.
———
Associated Press writers Angela Charlton in Paris and Lily Hindy in New York contributed to this report.