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HANZHUN ENRICHMENT FACILITY
China and Russia signed an agreement in 1993 for the construction of an enrichment facility in China to produce low-enriched uranium (LEU). In January 1996 Russia and China established a joint venture to build a Soviet-designed three-module commercial gas centrifuge uranium enrichment facility, involving the Russian firm Zarubezhatomenergostroy. Although some reports suggested that this plant would be located in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, recent evidence suggests that the plant is located in Hanzhun, Shaanxi Province.[1,2,3] According to the Sino-Russian contract, Russia will replace any machines that break down within 15 years, and the agreement includes training for Chinese operators for when they take over the facility's operation once all three modules are finished. The agreement also prohibits production of HEU at the facility and re-export of the Russian-supplied equipment. Although Western officials estimate the facility's total capacity upon completion at between 200,000-300,000 separative work units (SWU) per year, Russia's Minatom has stated that each module will have a capacity of 200,000 SWU per year. The first module was completed in June 1996. The second began operating in September 1997 and was due for completion in August 1998. The third module is scheduled to come fully on line by the end of 2000.[3,4] Each module consists of 10,000 vertically stacked centrifuge columns, each consisting of individual units with an annual capacity of 2-3 SWU. The stacked machines are all subcritical units, and come from surplus Russian production; the Ural Electrochemical Plant supplied the Hanzhun facility with $8 million worth of equipment for the facility.[4,6] Operating under IAEA safeguards, the facility will enrich only Chinese-origin uranium, according to Chinese officials. The facility is producing 4 percent enriched LEU for the 300MWe power reactors at Qinshan, and possibly for the French-built reactors at Daya Bay. The plant will also produce fuel for the two planned Russian VVER-1000 PWRs at the Lianyungang Nuclear Power Plant.[4] When fully operational, the Hanzhun plant will allow China to close its gaseous diffusion plant at Lanzhou.
In an interview in November 1997, then-serving Russian
Atomic Energy Minister Viktor Mikhailov described the Hanzhun facility as an
outstanding example of Minatom's export potential and of Russo-Chinese nuclear
cooperation: "We started up the first phase of the enrichment plant 300 days
ahead of schedule. We promised to build it in 1,000 days, but were able to do so
sooner. The plant is already producing output worth $20 million a year...It will
be able to produce output worth $30 million. We will hand over this project
fully in 2001. China is extremely happy with the cooperation with the Russian
Ministry of Atomic Energy because we are engaged in high-quality construction
and are greatly ahead of schedule."[5]
Sources:
[1] Rodney W. Jones et al., Tracking
Nuclear Proliferation 1998: A Guide in Maps and Charts (New York: Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace, 1998), pp. 66-67.
[2] Mark Hibbs, "China's Centrifuge SWU
Plant Up and Running, MINATOM Says," NuclearFuel, 27 January 1997, p. 3.
[3] Interfax, 8 April 1998; in "Plans
for Phase 2 of China-Russia Uranium Enrichment Plant," FBIS-SOV-98-098.
[4] Mark Hibbs, "With More Russian
Centrifuges, China Will Close Lanzhou Plant," NuclearFuel, 6
October 1997, pp. 3-4.
[5] Novyye Izvestiya, 18 November
1997; in FBIS-SOV-97-322.
[6] Interfax, 18 July 1995; in "Ural
Plant to Supply PRC With Uranium Enrichment Equipment," FBIS-TAC-95-004.{entered
11/13/98 FW}
Last updated 29 April 1999
This
material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin Center for
Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and
does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently
verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2007
by MIIS.
