Agencies
  
Beijing, Oct 18: China has established an exclusive lab to develop a special pollution free Olympic flame combustion system atop Mt Everest which could withstand adverse natural conditions, a technician said here on Thursday October 18.

China is confident that the 2008 Olympic flame will successfully weather strong gales, downpours, sudden hail and thin air to burn brightly and beautifully on the world's tallest peak, Mt Everest, Deputy general manager with the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, designer of the torch for the 2008 Games, Xue Li said.

"The flame, about 20 to 30 centimetres high, should be bright and very pleasant to eyes," Xue, also a delegate to the ongoing 17th National Congress of the ruling Communist Party of China.

The flame is designed to be able to weather strong storms with a wind speed of 24.5 to 32.6 metres per second and a heavy rain with a per-hour precipitation of more than 50 millimetres, he was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

Xue said that besides drawing upon the experiences from previous Olympic flame designs, Chinese technicians have also made a number of innovations to make sure the flame could outlive wind and storms on top of the peak known to westerners as Mt. Everest which stands 8844.43 metres above sea level.

He also assured that the fuel would be well stored and pollution-free.

To host an impressive and successful Olympics, China has promised the world it would relay the torch from Olympia, Greece, the cradle of the Olympiad, to Mount Everest upon its application to host the four-yearly event.

Liu said that technical difficulties on relaying TV signals on the "roof of the world" have also been solved, he said.