China opens disaster research laboratory

A Chinese government laboratory has been set up to research technologies to minimize the damage of nuclear and biochemical disasters, officials said. The lab in Beijing will focus on ways to evaluate and monitor damage and to protect people, facilities and the environment in the event of such disasters, Pei Chengxin, the lab's director, said. The facility opened Tuesday is under the People's Liberation Army General Armament Department, which has already developed several key technologies for use in monitoring poisonous gas and biochemical threats, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. Building on the military research, the lab is expected to develop related technologies for civilian use and train more scientists in this field, Pei said. Merged into the new facility are a government laboratory of analytical chemistry, a military institute on environmental science and a laboratory on chemical warfare protection, Xinhua reported.