We write with further updates regarding our new campus, where we will move this summer in preparation for the 2011-2012 academic year. First, we are happy to announce that renovations on our new campus at 325 Guoquan Road began last Wednesday, May 25. The full renovation schedule is included further below in this message.
Secondly, on the morning of May 20, a representative from Shanghai Institute of Measurement and Testing Technology, Professor Yan Yiping, came to the FIS faculty lounge to meet with eight FIS parents who had previously expressed interest in safety issues regarding the new campus. He answered the questions raised by those parents about the new campus and the inspection reports first distributed in our May 13 email to you. A transcript of the key questions asked is below.
Q: With the tower near campus so high, why radiation value of the inspection reports is so low?
A: The tower near 325 Guoquan Road is a microwave relay communication tower, so it is different from common mobile communications towers. The differences are as follows:
First, the common mobile communications tower is used to send and receive signals for mobile phones, so its radiation is launched in all directions; it aims to let every corner receive signals. However, a microwave relay communication tower is used to receive and launch specific communication signals, so its radiation direction is linear. As a signal is launched, scattering is inevitable, but on the whole, the signal gathers into a straight line and is not sent every which way. The microwave relay communication tower belongs to the army. For the security of signals, the army ensures that its surrounding area cannot receive microwave signals; therefore, even in its periphery, it also cannot receive microwave signals.
Second, a common mobile communications tower is generally a little bit shorter, as people want to let mobile phones from all around receive signals, whereas a microwave relay communication tower is much taller because it doesn’t need to let its surroundings receive signals.
Q: This inspection reports is tested at a specific moment in time, but isn’t it possible that this moment was simply a time with low communication? How can you ensure that at other times an inspection report would yield the same results?
A: Actually, the measured value of the inspection reports is not simply a value representing the strength of the communication signal. In a manner of speaking, it is a composite value of the mobile communication signal, the radio oscillator’s signal, and even the signal from the power transformer of this room where we are sitting. Here I see that there is a parent with a measuring device; if you like, you could measure eight hours a day and see if there are any changes.
Q: Does China’s Environmental Protection Agency have any laws about electromagnetic radiation that near a “high-power station,” there can be no residential areas, schools or hospitals? Is the tower high-power?
A: No. A “high-power station” refers to the intensive use of a high-capacity mainframe station, such as the transmitter of a broadcasting station. Generally speaking, a device transmitting more than 200 kW is classified as high-powered. The tower near your 325 Guoquan Road campus has a transmitting power of no more than 3 kW.
Q: Similar laws in the Unites States prohibit construction near a communication tower within a radius of 1.5 times the tower’s height. The entirety of the new campus is within such a range. According to such American standards, is it fair to say that 325 Guoquan Road would not be considered a suitable place for a campus?
A: The towers described in such American regulations are common towers used to receive and send mobile phone signals; their radiation is diffusible. People should not live within a certain radius of that kind of tower. This tower, however, is used to transmit communication signals from one single point to another, so it is different from other common towers. Hence, we cannot use such a standard to gauge the safety of the tower. The previously mentioned environmental standard of China’s is completely in line with international standards; China’s written standards cite written international standards. Additionally, inspection devices used by China’s testing organization are all imported from abroad directly.
325 Guo Quan Road 2011 Renovation Schedule
国权路325号校区装修工程日程表
Task 项目 Planned Finish Date 计划完成日期
Elementary School 5/25 - 6/25
1F Building Interior
小学部（平房）内部
Middle & High School 5/25 - 7/15
4F Building Indoor
中学部（四层楼房）内部
Outer Wall & School Gate 7/15 - 8/10
外墙，校门维修
Installation and Inspection 7/25 - 8/10
of Electrical & Mechanical
Equipment
设备安装，调试，验收
Furniture Added 8/10 - 8/15
家具搬入
Once the renovation is complete, the school will invite the Shanghai Technical Quality Test Center to conduct an inspection of the school environment at 325 Guoquan Road and will share the inspection reports with FIS staff and parents when they become available. If you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Best,
Jack Chang
Director
Fudan International School
