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OTHER NAMES: Third Line Gaseous Diffusion Plant
Located at Heping, Sichuan Province (103.04E/29.18E). The Plant is China's second gaseous diffusion facility, built as part of the "Third Line" to duplicate the Lanzhou facility. Heping reportedly has a larger production capacity than Lanzhou. The plant probably became fully operational around 1975.
According to SIPRI, Heping has a nominal capacity of 200,000 SWU/year.
According to the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Heping is capable of producing 750-2,950 kg of weapons-grade uranium per year.
China has stated that according to its current fuel-cycle plans, it will eventually replace its gaseous diffusion facilities with gas centrifuge plants.
[Sources: Nuclear Weapons Databook, Volume 5, pp. 338-339; Mark Hibbs, "With More Russian Centrifuges, China Will Close Lanzhou Plant," NuclearFuel, 6 October 1997, pp. 3-4; Lisbeth Gronlund, David Wright, and Yong Liu, "China And A Fissile Material Production Cut-Off," Survival, Winter 1995-96, p. 159; Tracking Nuclear Proliferation, p. 52; Risk Report, November 1995, p. 7; SIPRI Yearbook 1996, p. 471.]
Last Updated June 1998
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