Radiation levels increased near the place where the North tried the H bomb

Monitoring stations on the China-Korea border detect a trend of increased radiation, but experts suspect this may be due to natural causes instead of the H. bomb test.

South China Morning Post said Chinese scientists are considering whether a small but steady increase in the level of environmental radiation recorded by border observatories is related to the grain test. On the 3rd of September, did North Korea.

A scientist from the Chinese government advisory group on the response to radioactive hazards said the change could be due to natural and unrelated causes of nuclear testing, though the trend is "remarkable".

According to data provided by the Chinese Ministry of the Environment, the level of radiation in the Changbai National Autonomous Prefecture, the closest area of ​​China to the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, has gradually increased from an average of 104. , 9 nanogray / h on September 3 to 108.5 nanogray / h on September 5.

China - Korea border area.(Photo: Reuters).

By the morning of September 6, the average radiation level here reached 110.7, the level of radiation when peaking was 112.5 nanogray / h.The autonomous ethnic district of North Korea is Bach 80km from Punggye-ri nuclear test site.

Guo Qiuju, professor of radiation protection at Peking University's physics department, said it is still too early to determine the cause of the increase in radiation in the area near the monitoring stations. According to Ms. Guo, the public does not need to worry because the government has not yet discovered any suspicious elements.

"If something bad happens, I will be notified immediately. I have not received that call yet," she said.

Guo explained that the level of radiation warning changes in 20 nanogray is normal due to the effects of wind, rain and cosmic rays. Until now, the level of radiation was still below the level of harm to human health.

Even so, radioactive worries still cling to 100,000 residents here. The owner of a restaurant near the Bach Bach monitoring station said: "After the shock on Sunday (September 3), the streets are quiet. People like to stay indoors with their phones, on social networks. to express anxiety ".

Meanwhile, according to satellite images obtained from Punggye-ri, the explosion of about 100,000 tons of TNT has led to several landslides.