Nuclear pioneer was a national hero

Beijing - Zhu Guangya, a nuclear physicist and one of the key scientists engaged in the development of China's first atom bomb and first hydrogen bomb, died on Saturday at the age of 87.

A pioneer of China's nuclear science, Zhu contributed to breakthroughs in the research for nuclear energy, and helped the country's development of defense technology.

Born in Yichang, Central China's Hubei province, in 1924, Zhu completed his PhD degree in nuclear physics from the University of Michigan in 1950. He returned to China the same year.