作者 |
New York Times: Global Monitor Finds No Radioactive Leaks |
![缩小字体](images/ZoomOut.gif) |
laozhong [博客] [个人文集]
![头衔: 海归元帅 头衔: 海归元帅](images/342/adminleetgato.gif)
头衔: 海归元帅 声望: 大师 性别: ![性别:男 性别:男](templates/cnphpbbice/images/icon_minigender_male.gif) 加入时间: 2004/12/19 文章: 10727 来自: 苏州/天津/北京/重庆/美国 海归分: 1376775
|
|
作者:laozhong 在 海归酒吧 发贴, 来自【海归网】 http://www.haiguinet.com
Global Monitor Finds No Radioactive Leaks in Quake Zone
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Published: May 22, 2008 New York Times
A global network of sensors has found no evidence that China’s complex of nuclear facilities in the earthquake zone let any radioactivity escape, its operator reported Wednesday.
The finding supports reassurances by China and the United States that the giant earthquake of May 12 resulted in no large nuclear releases, even though the stricken zone in Sichuan Province shelters China’s main centers for designing, making and storing nuclear arms. The zone is also home to a number of nuclear reactors the Chinese military uses for arms development.
The network of sensors, run out of Vienna under the auspices of the United Nations, monitors the globe for clandestine nuclear blasts as well as other seismic and atomic events. Its 52 radionuclide stations — of 80 planned — sniff the air for signs of radioactivity, which can travel long distances on the wind.
“Our radionuclide network has not registered any radioactive release in connection with the earthquake in China,” said Annika Thunborg, a spokesperson for the network, known as the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
Its sensors are sensitive enough to detect radioactivity that wafts halfway around the globe. For instance, in 2006, a network station in Yellowknife, Canada, picked up wisps of radioactive gas inadvertently released from an underground North Korean nuclear blast.
As for China, a senior federal official said late last week that the United States was using spy satellites and other means to monitor nuclear plants in the quake zone and had uncovered “no immediate concerns.”
Soon after, China added its reassurances. On Sunday, in a rare public appearance, a top officer of the People’s Liberation Army told reporters that the jolts did no serious harm to Sichuan’s nuclear facilities. “I can say responsibly that they are all safe,” the officer, Air Force Maj. Gen. Ma Jian, told a news conference in Beijing.
Private nuclear experts expressed skepticism at the blanket reassurances and questioned why Beijing released no information about specific plants and whether any had suffered damage.
Nuclear Fuel, an industry publication, reported Monday that China’s National Nuclear Safety Administration had ordered all reactors operating in Sichuan to shut down indefinitely in response to the earthquake. It also reported structural damage at several nuclear sites, six injuries and six deaths but “no signs of safety-significant damage.”
The publication said the Chinese government will allow Sichuan’s reactors to restart only after authorities have been reassured that the plants “meet minimum national nuclear seismic standards.”
Western experts said the rugged hills near the epicenter of the earthquake harbor a reactor that mimics the rush of speeding subatomic particles from an exploding atom bomb.
China’s main nuclear weapons design facility lies nearby in Mianyang and its main facility for processing plutonium for nuclear weapons in Guangyuan. The quake damaged both cities.
Tuesday, in a related development, China’s state media reported that debris from the quake buried 32 sources of radioactivity, apparently at hospitals, factories and laboratories. But the media said the authorities had recovered or safely cordoned off the radioactive devices.
作者:laozhong 在 海归酒吧 发贴, 来自【海归网】 http://www.haiguinet.com
|
|
|
返回顶端 |
|
![](templates/cnphpbbice/images/spacer.gif) |
|
-
New York Times: Global Monitor Finds No Radioactive Leaks -- laozhong - (3572 Byte) 2008-5-25 周日, 10:07 (705 reads) |
|
|
您不能在本论坛发表新主题, 不能回复主题, 不能编辑自己的文章, 不能删除自己的文章, 不能发表投票, 您 不可以 发表活动帖子在本论坛, 不能添加附件可以下载文件, |
|
|