China to allow tourists in A-bomb test site

Beijing: China will be giving access to the public to a deserted nuclear experiment site where scientists developed the country`s first atomic bomb in 1964.

About CNY six million (around USD 945,000) will be invested to turn the Malan base in the Xinjiang Uygur region into a tourism site, Xinhua reported.

Labs and dormitories used by the nuclear scientists, and a 300-metre anti-air strike tunnel, will be shown, an official said.

China detonated its first atomic bomb in the desert near Malan on October 16, 1964.

The country, however, has never used an atomic bomb in an attack. The government says it has suspended nuclear weapon programmes since 1996 and is committed to advancing global nuclear disarmament.

IANS