The secret base for making China's first atomic bomb

Factory 221 was once a secretive facility, the site of China's first nuclear weapons.

Located between the plateau in northwestern China is the remnant of a remote city erased from the map since 1958. What are the disconnected mechanical workshops, empty bunkers and abandoned dormitories? 221 machine left.

The missile model is located in Factory 221, a secret base on the remote plateau in northwest China, where the country's first nuclear weapons were built.(Photo: New York Times).

On a alpine meadow named Kim Ngan Than in Qinghai Province, thousands of Tibetan and Mongolian cattle farmers have been moved to build a secret city for China's first nuclear arsenal. , according to the New York Times.

"It's completely secretive, you have to get your paper in," said Pengcuo Zhuoma, 56, a Mongolian herder who lives near factories, said. His family used to provide meat and milk to scientists at Factory 221. "You have to stick your mouth back, you can't talk about it."

However, things changed in the 1990s when this place now known as the "Atomic City" became a symbol of patriotism, a place of memorial to steep scientists and staff. Working capacity for the project 221 Factory despite facing the harsh conditions of the land higher than 3,300 meters above sea level.

Inside the Museum of Atomic City.(Photo: New York Times).

A museum, which does not allow foreigners to visit, exhibits artifacts and provides information that ancient weapons were built primarily to counter the threat of Chinese threat from the US and the Soviet Union. .

They built China's first atomic bomb, exploded in 1964, and then the first thermonuclear bomb, tested in 1967. They also contributed to the development of missiles with nuclear warheads. Today, those who have participated in the project still boast about how they helped China build a nuclear shield.

Although the contributions of scientists have been recognized, the rest of the past is still unpublished. People who worked for the project said they were not protected against radiation in nuclear plants. They are also not effectively cared for after being sick, most of them are cancer.

"Behind the aura of the successful construction of two bombs and the launch of satellites, many people have to sacrifice. Much of that sacrifice is unnecessary," said Wei Shijie, 76, a physicist. retired to work for Factory 221 in the 1960s, said.

Peak, Factory 221 has 18 factories, laboratories and buildings scattered over an area of ​​nearly 570 km ² .(Artwork: New York Times).

The beauty of Kim Ngan Than has been praised in songs and a movie since 1953. But after 1958, Kim Ngan Than suddenly disappeared from the map. Chinese scientists and advisers to the Soviet Union, who helped China carry out its nuclear program from its infancy until the time when the two powers split in 1959, chose this place as the location project.

According to documents from the Factory Museum 221, the cattle herders in the prairie grassland voluntarily left, supported by the state and granted thousands of sheep. But many people say this is not the whole story, some resistance moves have taken place.

Thousands of scientists, technicians and soldiers then flocked to Project 221. At its peak, Factory 221 had 18 workshops, laboratories and buildings scattered across an area of ​​nearly 570 km2. and 30,000 scientists, workers and guards.