China province mulls law on radioactive pollution control

Northwest China's Gansu Province, home to the country's earliest nuclear base, plans to draft a new law on radioactive pollution control this year, the local government said Saturday. Lawmakers in the landlocked province decided to draft the new law at the provincial legislature's annual session last month, Gansu's environmental protection department said in a press release. The home to China's earliest nuclear test base, Gansu now has nearly 2,900 radioactive sources, more than 1,000 sets of radioactive facilities and a rapidly increasing exposure to electro-magnetic radiation. "It is therefore essential to step up legislation and lay out stricter standards on the treatment of radioactive waste to prevent potentially hazardous pollution," the document said. It is not immediately clear when the new law will be enacted. The environmental protection department said it will take the opportunity to propose another set of regulations to ensure that the electro-magnetic radiation from mobile phones, towers and other equipment across the province are within prescribed limits.