China checks nuclear facilities after Tianjin blasts

BEIJING - China's environmental ministry has ordered nationwide safety checks on nuclear facilities, weeks after deadly explosions at a warehouse storing hazardous chemicals in North China's Tianjin.

In a statement posted on its website, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said the safety checks will proceed until November to ensure nuclear facilities, nuclear equipment makers and uranium ore mines are free of safety hazards.

The checks are to take a lesson from the Tianjin blasts, in which 165 people were killed.

In the statement, the ministry required firms to conduct self-examinations to "make sure nuclear facilities and equipment are safe and under control".

Local environmental authorities are also urged to intensify safety checks.

China currently has more than 50 nuclear power generating units in operation or under construction.