Nuclear Installation in Sichuan

Powerful 6.0-magnitude aftershock hit China's Sichuan province Sunday, 25 May 2008 for second times and thousands hurt again. Beyond the earthquake we fail to foresee the nuclear installation located in southwest Sichuan. These include a manufacturing site for nuclear weapons which handles unstable chemical elements found in tritium, plutonium and uranium, as well as a nuclear reactor. Given the magnitude of the earthquake twice, impossible the damage to the installation could not be excluded but then China’s military said “all nuclear facilities in the country’s earthquake hit southwest were safe and secure.” China has 11 nuclear power reactors, mostly in coastal areas. We shall not take it easily with the statement because any thing can happen at any time. Not much information has been released so far on this issue although China’s National Nuclear Administration had launched a crisis action plan after the earthquake. For record; an earthquake last year in Japan stopped operation of the world's largest nuclear facility northwest of Tokyo and caused a small radioactive leak. Hopefully, China will release more information on this issue and facilitate the media to report the true story rather than black out the issues in media. Without the early precautions on the radioactive leakage, more than the number of victims who perish in this earthquake will face the death roll.