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Glossaries

China's Attitude Toward Nuclear Material Protection, Control, and Accounting (MPC&A)

China has declared its support for the various conventions that deal with nuclear safety and the physical protection of nuclear materials. China is a member of the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, the Convention on Nuclear Safety, the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency, and the Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident.

The Ministry of Energy authorized the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) to be responsible for the control of nuclear material for the whole of China. The legal framework for China's nuclear material control is based on two documents:

(2) "Rules for Implementation of the Regulations on Nuclear Materials Control of the People's Republic of China" (25 September 1990) [approved and issued by the Ministry of Energy, the National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) and the Commission of Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND)]. This document laid down the responsibilities of the National Office for the Control of Nuclear Materials; responsibilities of the licensee; application, review, and assessment and issuing of licenses; accounting management of nuclear materials; and nuclear materials balance and physical protection.

According to the documents above, the nuclear materials to be controlled are plutonium, uranium, tritium, and lithium-6.

The National Office for the Control of Nuclear Materials is under the China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA). Its main responsibilities include:

Nuclear Material Accounting:

China's main account forms include the following (created after 1991 in conformity with internationally used forms):

China uses the closed materials balance method for its nuclear materials balance, where material unaccounted for (MUF) is calculated by:

MUF = BI (beginning inventory) + A (additions) - EI (ending inventory) - R (removals) - KL (known loss)

China has established a regulation on the Limit of Relative Standard of Error of MUF of closed Material Balance on Various Facilities:

Physical Protection:

China divides its protection requirements for nuclear material into three categories, based on type, quantity, and harmfulness of the nuclear material:
 

Material

Form

Category

I

II

III

Plutonium

 Unirradiated 2 kg or more 10 g-20 kg 10 g or less

Uranium

 Unirradiated, U-235, enriched to 20% or more 5 kg or more 1 kg-5 kg 10g-1 kg
Unirradiated, U-235, enriched to 10-20%   20 kg or more 1 kg-20 kg
Unirradiated, U-235, enriched to less than 10% (not including natural uranium and depleted uranium)   300 kg or more 10 kg-300 kg

Tritium

 Unirradiated, counted by quantities of tritium 10 g or more 1 g-10 g 0.1 g-1 g

Lithium

 Enriched lithium, counted by quantities of lithium   20 kg or more 1 kg-20 kg

[Note: The categorization of uranium and plutonium physical protection is counted by the quantities of element but not by effective kilograms.]

Guard and defense at fixed sites:

Physical barriers at fixed sites:

Each nuclear facility in China has its own professional security organization in charge of the physical protection of nuclear material. China's major nuclear facilities are protected by the armed forces.

The NNSA is responsible for supervising the safety of the civilian use of nuclear materials.

Transport of Nuclear Material:

The consignor for nuclear material shipment is responsible for transport security and working out the transport security program jointly with the authorities concerned with transport, products management, safety protection, and public security. The transport security program of Category I and II shipments must be reported in advance to the local security organization. The shipment of Category I nuclear material must be accompanied by an armed escort, with information regarding the route, time, starting point, and arrival point kept secret.

In late April 1996, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Shen Guofang stated, in reference to the Moscow nuclear safety summit, that "We encourage all countries concerned to adopt a responsible attitude toward nuclear security and reinforce cooperation in properly handling and disposing of radioactive waste and nuclear materials. The Chinese government has always attached importance to nuclear security, safe management of radioactive waste, and control and protection of nuclear materials. China opposes all forms of illegal trafficking of nuclear materials and has joined relevant international conventions...and China will of course observe the provisions and stipulations of those treaties."

[Sources: Xingqian Zhang, IAPCM, "China's Practice on Nuclear Materials Control"; "News Briefing by Chinese Foreign Ministry," Beijing Review, 13-19 May 1996, p. 10; "China Says Still Wants Peaceful Nuclear Tests," Reuter, 23 April 1996.]

For China's position on the treaties dealing with nuclear material protection, control, and accounting (MPC&A), see:

[CHINA AND THE NUCLEAR SAFETY CONVENTION]

[CHINA AND THE PHYSICAL PROTECTION OF NUCLEAR MATERIALS CONVENTION]

[CHINA AND THE NUCLEAR ACCIDENTS NOTIFICATION CONVENTION]

[CHINA AND THE NUCLEAR ACCIDENTS ASSISTANCE CONVENTION]

Last Updated June 1998

CNSThis 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.

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