In 1956, Wu was selected by the Ministry of Health to study in the Soviet Union for a year. After returning to China, he taught at the Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS) as an associate professor. He was later promoted to professor, Chair of the Department of Toxicology, Dean of the AMMS Institute of Radiation Medicine, and eventually President of AMMS.[2]
Wu established China's first laboratory for radiation toxicology. He demonstrated the contamination patterns and hazards of nuclear fallouts and proposed corresponding measures of protection. In the 1970s, he studied the toxicology of plutonium and discovered the mechanism of carcinogenesis in the lung cells and the lymph nodes.[2]
In 1976, a failed Chinese nuclear test caused large-scale plutonium contamination at the test site. Wu, who was in charge of training medical personnel to prepare for a potential fallout, managed the emergency response after the accident to protect the health of the workers.[5] In the 1980s, he oversaw a systematic study of the emergency medical response to the accident, which won the Special Prize of the State Science and Technology Progress Award.[2][5] He was later involved in designing radiation protection measures at the Qinshan and Daya Baynuclear power plants.[5]
From the 1990s, Wu studied the molecular mechanism of carcinogenesis by alpha particle radiation.[2] He published more than 210 scientific papers and 7 books.[2]