Beijing, March 28 (IANS) Low levels of radiation have been detected in the southeast coastal regions of China but are not harmful to humans or the environment, officials said Monday.

Experts from the National Nuclear Emergency Coordination Committee said no protective measures were needed against the radiation, believed to have been dispersed in the air from Japan's quake-damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The committee said the radiation was one-hundred-thousandth of the normal level, Xinhua reported.

The conclusion was based on analysis by the Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre affiliated with the World Meteorological Organisation and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The committee earlier said an "infinitesimal" amount of radioactive Iodine-131 was detected in the atmosphere in Heilongjiang province.

Tian Jiashu, the environmental protection ministry's nuclear safety director, said that despite the Japan nuclear crisis, China remains undeterred in its goal of developing nuclear power as a clean energy source.

China has drawn on the best nuclear energy standards and practices among industrialised nations and can guarantee the safety of its nuclear power facilities, Tian said.

China plans to have 66 nuclear power plants by 2020.

The Fukushima plant was badly damaged March 11 in a magnitude-9 earthquake that triggered a massive tsunami. There were explosions in three of its reactors while a fire broke out in a fourth reactor.