Sorry to belabor this topic but the facts keep changing, and I want to try keep the record straight.

Nuclear: 50 total radiation "sources" and counting, 15 remain buried or inaccessible

In our original post we quoted an article that reported

China has so far recovered 30 of the 32 radioactive sources which were buried under the debris during the devastating May 12 earthquake, Minister for Environmental Protection Zhou Shengxian said.

He said locations of two other radioactive sources had been detected and they would also be transported to "safe areas" soon.

Altogether, 32 radioactive sources were buried under the debris during the 8 magnitude earthquake that struck last week, he added.

That number has increased. Now China.org.cn  reports that

Nuclear technicians have found no signs of radiation leaks in nuclear facilities in southwest China’s quake zone, but 15 radiation "sources" are still inaccessible, Vice Minister of Environmental Protection Wu Xiaoqing said Friday.

As of Thursday noon, the experts had identified 50 radiation "sources" and had moved 35 to safe areas, while the locations of the rest had been identified, Wu said.

Three of the 15 remaining sources were buried under rubble while the other 12 were in dangerous buildings that technicians could not yet enter, he said. "At the sites, technicians did not detect any leak."

Fortunately,

"We did not find any radioactive substance leaks into the environment," Wu told a press conference.

An AP story noted that officials have given "no specifics about the radiation sources," but that "foreign experts" believe that they most "likely came from materials used in hospitals, factories or in research, not for weapons."

Industrial Facilities

            Chemical Plants: 100 facilities in quake zone

The China.org.cn story notes that

According to Wu, there are more than 100 chemical plants in seven major cities in the quake zone (including the provincial capital, Chengdu) and about 76 percent stopped operations after the quake.

Among the 45 local plants on the list of major environmental risks that are under the state or provincial supervision, 41 percent were affected by the quake.

Inspectors have discovered 38 possible environmental threats and ordered the factories to remedy them as soon as possible, Wu said.

           Four Accidental Spills/Leaks

The article reports that there have been four environmental accidents as a result of the quake, but "so far but they did not affect local water and air quality."

                        Accidents 1 & 2: Shifang City chemical fertilizer plants

Two of the accidents, involving the Shifang chemical fertilizer plants, were mentioned in our original post.

Containers of liquid ammonia and vitriol were damaged and substances leaked at two chemical plants in Shifang City, Sichuan, one of the worst-hit cities, where a factory collapsed and about 100 workers were buried.

The State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) said on May 13 that more than 80 tonnes of liquid ammonia had leaked in Shifang and the local government ordered the evacuation of more than 6,000 people.

This Caijing Magazine article, cited in our original post, reports a significantly greater volume of leaked ammonia.

Photo Credit: (Reinhard Krause/Reuters)

                        Accident 3: Qingchuan County food packinghouse

The third accident occurred

At a food packinghouse in Qingchuan County, Sichuan, stockpiles of liquid ammonia, used for flash freezing, also leaked.

Technicians stopped the leak quickly and did not find serious damage to the local environment, Wu said.

                        Accident 4: Mianzhu City chemical plant

The fourth accident involved

phosphorus (yellow) burns at a chemical plant in Hanwang County, Mianzhu City, another hard-hit place. The accident took place after the May 12 quake, the burning was contained on May 14 and the rest of the phosphorus was moved to safety on May 19.

The article does not mention the Deyang City chemical fertilizer plant (cited in our original post) which reportedly leaked ammonia and sulfuric acid as a result of quake-related damage.

Environmental Monitoring Network

Another casualty of the quake was the environmental monitoring network in the region.

The environmental monitoring network in the quake zone sustained extensive damage, Wu said. "It will be a tough task to maintain and supervise the local environment in the near future."

The latest figures the ministry received showed that more than 6,200 monitoring devices, 72 automatic monitoring stations for air and water quality and 934 environmental remediation facilities were damaged in the quake.

Conclusion

The whole situation appears very fluid, and it will take weeks if not months for the precise environmental toll to be calculated. The AP story quotes MEP Vice Minister Wu as cautioning that "a number of other ‘hidden’ sources of pollution are likely to be encountered as workers begin digging into the rubble, which includes many factories and refineries." We will try to keep track of the stories as they unfold, and at an appropriate time we will take a final look at this topic.