(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-06-06 19:35

BEIJING - The last 15 of 50 radiation "sources" in southwest China's quake zone have been moved to safety, said the Ministry of Environmental Protection on Friday.

"All nuclear facilities in Sichuan Province are safe and under control. We found no radioactive substance leaks into the environment," said the ministry in a statement.

Generally speaking, radiation "sources" referred to radioactive material kept in sealed protective containers, mostly for civilian use, said a ministry spokesman.

But he could give no detailed information about where the sources were in Sichuan Province or where they were taken.

After the devastating May 12 earthquake, the environmental authorities checked 228 organizations that held radioactive material and identified 50 sources at risk.

At a press conference on May 23, Vice Minister of Environmental Protection Wu Xiaoqing confirmed that 35 were moved to safe areas.

But three of the 15 remaining were buried under rubble while the other 12 were in dangerous buildings that technicians could not enter.

The authorities had removed several other radiation sources at the request of their owners although none of them proved to be in danger, the statement said.