bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Stephen Chen

Chinese scientists are considering whether a small but gradual increase in environmental radiation picked up by monitoring stations close to the border with North Korea is related to the nuclear test carried out over the weekend.
The changes could be down to environmental factors and unrelated to the nuclear test, but the trend was “worthy of attention”, said a scientist who sits on a panel that advises the Chinese government on emergency responses to radioactive hazards.
Landslides detected at North Korea’s nuclear test site after Chinese expert warns blast zone at risk of imploding
The radiation level in Changbai Korean autonomous county – the closest Chinese urban area to the Punggye-ri test facility – climbed gradually from an average of 104.9 nanograys per hour immediately after the test on Sunday to 108.5 on Tuesday, according to figures released by China’s environment ministry.


By Wednesday morning the average level in the county, which lies about 80km west of the blast site, had risen to 110.7 with a peak of 112.5.
Nanograys per hour is the standard unit for measuring the absorption of radiation by human tissue.
Similar upward trends were reported by monitoring stations in other regions, including in Antu county at the foot of Changbai Mountain and in Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture further north.
UN Security Council to hold emergency meeting Monday on North Korea blast
At Punggye-ri, the estimated 100 kiloton blast triggered several large landslides, according to satellite images released on Wednesday by the US-based Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
Earlier, a research team at the University of Science and Technology of China traced the locations of the five most recent tests carried out by North Korea to a single mountain, which they warned was now at risk of imploding. In such an event, the radioactive material currently trapped underground would be released.
Guo Qiuju, a professor of radiation protection at the school of physics at Peking University, said it was too early to be certain what had caused the rising trend at the monitoring stations as radiation levels change over time even under normal conditions.
UN Security Council to hold emergency meeting Monday on North Korea blast
The public had no need to panic as no suspicious trace elements were detected by the government on Tuesday, she said.
“If something bad had happened I would be one of the first to be informed,” she said. “I have not received the call so far.”
The current radiation levels were far below anything that could be regarded as a risk to people’s health, she said, “but if the figures keep going up it may require a closer look”.




Guo explained that it was considered normal for readings to fluctuate within a 20 nanogray range due to the effects of wind, rain and cosmic rays.
For instance, radioactive materials floating high in the atmosphere could be carried down into the soil by rain, she said.
Several regions close to the test site had recorded rain in the past few days, according to Chinese weather authorities.
China urges nuclear North Korea not to fire missile as Seoul boosts THAAD defence
Despite Guo’s reassurances, the owner of a restaurant in Changbai close to a monitoring station said the blasts had left many of the county’s near 100,000 residents scared.
“After the jolt on Sunday the street has been quiet. People prefer to stay indoors with their mobile phones, expressing their fears on WeChat,” he said.
“We hope that heaven will hear our prayers and keep the devil away from our land.”


Why South Korea is powerless to revive Trump-Kim nuclear talks

Is China changing tack and accepting North Korea as a nuclear-armed state?

North Korean air force to gain ‘strategic assets’ amid heightened tensions in peninsula

North Korea’s nuclear upgrades seen from space as South readies ‘monster missiles’

North Korea nuclear crisis

China detects rising radiation levels in areas close to North Korean nuclear blast site

Rising radiation levels have been recorded at Chinese monitoring stations close to the North Korean border. Photo: AP

News

China

Diplomacy

Monitoring stations record upward trend, but expert says it could be explained by natural causes


China detects rising radiation levels in areas close to North Korean nuclear blast site

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Monitoring stations record upward trend, but expert says it could be explained by natural causes

Monitoring stations record upward trend, but expert says it could be explained by natural causes