Allegations of nuclear negligence on Tibetan soil have surfaced on numerous occasions. ICT believes that many of these allegations are unfounded; nevertheless, there has been significant nuclear activity in Tibet, and today there are many nuclear missile sites in northern Tibet, in addition to uranium mining and one well-documented nuclear waste dump.
The selection of the Tibetan Plateau for China's primary nuclear weapons research and development base was the first in a series of decisions that put China's nuclear infrastructure in regions populated by non-Chinese peoples. There is now little doubt that China's nuclear program has had an inordinate impact on Tibetans, Uygurs, and Mongolians. From land appropriation, to nuclear fall-out, to toxic and radioactive pollution in rivers, lakes and pastures, the story about the effects of China's nuclear program has yet to fully emerge.
The significance of placing nuclear missiles on the Tibetan plateau is also critical for understanding the historical and current geo-political relationships. In 1964, when China conducted its first nuclear blast, India began its nuclear program. Tibet, the traditional buffer between the two great nations, was under Chinese control. The humiliating defeat suffered by India in the 1962 Indo-Chinese war was launched from the Tibetan high-ground. The prospect of being faced with not only superior conventional forces on the Tibetan plateau, but nuclear ones as well, exacerbated India's unease.
India's sense of vulnerability increased dramatically with China's military alliance with Pakistan. Today, India and Pakistan are both involved in nuclear weapons production. The nuclear rivalry between India and Pakistan is perpetuated by China's nuclear threat to India, and its forward positioning of nuclear weapons on the Tibetan Plateau. Any movement toward making Tibet a nuclear free zone, as proposed by the Dalai Lama and others, will have to address the nuclear ambiguities between China, India and Pakistan and their respective security needs.
Nuclear weapons production in Tibet
China's primary nuclear weapons research and design facility was constructed on the Tibetan Plateau in the early 1960s. The facility--located in the Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, near the shores of Lake Kokonor--is known as the Northwest Nuclear Weapons Research and Design Academy, or the Ninth Academy. The Ninth Academy designed all of China's nuclear bombs through the mid-1970s. During this time, the facility designed and carried out non-nuclear explosions. It also served as a research center for detonation development, radiochemistry, and many other nuclear weapons-related activities.
Nuclear waste
After years of denials, China finally admitted, in 1995, to the existence of a high-level nuclear waste dump site on the Tibetan plateau. The few details provided include that it is a 20 sq.m. dump for radioactive pollutants and that no one at the base ever died of radiation. The nature and quantity of radioactive waste generated by the Ninth Academy is classified. If the Ninth Academy was engaged in low-concentration fuel reprocessing at Haiyen, that would be another significant source of nuclear waste.
During the 1960s-70s, nuclear waste from the facility was likely disposed of in a roughshod and haphazard manner. Nuclear waste from the Academy would have taken a variety of forms: liquid slurry, solid waste, and gases. If groundwater was affected, local townspeople and Tibetan nomads and herders, could have been exposed to dangerous levels of radiation. All nuclear tests have been conducted at Lop Nor, Xinjiang. None has ever been recorded in Tibet.
Allegations that nuclear waste from China's lowland provinces or from other countries has been dumped in Tibetan regions are unconfirmed, and ICT believes they are baseless. Shipment of high-level Taiwanese nuclear waste to China for disposal has often been discussed, but it is unlikely that Taiwanese nuclear waste would end up in Tibet.
ICT believes allegations that China's nuclear activities in Tibet could contaminate Asia's headwaters and jeopardize millions of people to be unfounded. With the exception of the headwaters of the Yellow river (Tibetan: Machu), where the Ninth Academy is located, there is no reliable evidence of substantial nuclear activity which could produce high-level nuclear waste in headwater areas in Tibet.
Another potential threat would have been a nuclear plant that was planned for Lhasa on the headwaters of the Brahmaputra. Such a plant would produce high-level nuclear waste, but its construction was canceled.
Nuclear weapons
Currently, China has approximately 300-400 nuclear warheads, of which several dozen are believed to be on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai Province. In Amdo, three nuclear weapons sites house the DF-4 long range missile near the railway line which runs from Xining to Golmud: Da Qaidam site (37.50N, 95.18E), Xiao Qaidam (37.26N, 95.08E) and Delingha (37.6N, 97.12E). The airport in Golmud also may be used as a bomber dispersal base. ICT has found no credible evidence that land-based nuclear missiles are permanently stationed in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Numerous reports say that nuclear missiles are in Nagchuka, a town at nearly 15,000 feet on the poorly maintained road between Golmud and Lhasa. Assertions that China would station 70-90 nuclear warheads, a quarter of its arsenal, at Nagchuka are unfounded.
Uranium mining
Some of the largest deposits of uranium are located in Tibet. Large deposits are reported to be in close vicinity to Lhasa, Tibet's capitol, according to Party official Yin Fatang. Uranium deposits are also located in Ngapa Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu Province, and near Da Qaidam in Qinghai Province. The largest uranium mine in Tibet appears to be the "Gya Terseda" mine in Tewe (or Thebe) district, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province. The most detailed and persistent reports of injury and death from uranium mining come from that area.
Recommendations
- To safeguard Tibet's fragile ecosystem, the following steps should be taken:
- Epidemiological studies carried out by independent experts to determine the effects of the Ninth Academy on its workers and the surrounding Tibetan populations.
- Measures taken to ensure that Tibetans who live near uranium mines are not exposed to low level radioactivity.
- Removal of nuclear missiles from the Tibetan plateau to bolster India's sense of security and to promote nuclear stability in South Asia.
Further Reading
Chellaney, Brahma, "Regional Proliferation: Issues and Challenges," Nuclear Proliferation in South Asia: The Prospects for Arms Control, Stephen Cohen, ed. Boulder: Westview Press, 1991.
International Campaign for Tibet, Nuclear Tibet. Washington, 1993.
Fieldhouse, Richard, "Chinese Nuclear Weapons: A Current and Historical Overview," Natural Resources Defense Council. Washington D.C., 1991.
Lewis, John Wilson and Xue Litai, China Builds the Bomb. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1988.
Tibetan Government-in-Exile, Precious Stones and Mineral Resources in Tibet - the Land of Snows. Dharamsala, 1991.
