Russia:  Nuclear Exports to China


Overview Nuclear Export Summary Table Developments
Uranium Enrichment, Mining, and Milling

Power Reactors  Research Reactors
Training and Know-How

China is a major importer of Russian nuclear equipment, technology, and know-how.  In addition to two 1000MWe VVER-1000 reactors for the Lianyungang Nuclear Power Plant, Russia is supplying China with an entire uranium enrichment facility at Hanzhun, including a gas centrifuge plant for the production of low-enriched uranium with an annual capacity of 200,000-300,000 separative work units (SWU). Russian experts have also participated in the installation of a Russian-designed Tokamak-7 experimental thermonuclear fusion reactor at Hefei. Reports of varying credibility also indicate that Russian specialists have extended technical assistance for China's fast-breeder reactor project and have established a secret joint nuclear research center at Shenzhen.[1] There are also reports of Russian sales of computer simulation technology for use in China's program to develop warheads small enough to use in multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), but these reports are poorly documented and are not very credible.[2] Because China has signed the NPT as a nuclear weapons state, Russia's nuclear exports to China are not a direct source of proliferation concern in terms of the NPT. Moreover, China accepts International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards on imports of civilian nuclear technology. Concerns remain, however, that Russian nuclear technology may indirectly augment China's military nuclear capabilities. Nevertheless, Russia has targeted China as a major growth market for nuclear exports, and in June 1998 Minister of Atomic Energy Yevgeniy Adamov proposed a program of continued nuclear cooperation that could earn, he claims, billions of dollars for the Russian nuclear industry.[3,4]
Sources:
[1] "China's Nuclear Imports and Assistance From Abroad," CNS China Profiles database.
[2] "China Exploded More Than Two Warheads--Paper," Reuters, 12 June 1996; in Executive News Service, 12 June 1996.
[3] ITAR-TASS, 18 June 1998.
[4]"Minatom's Route to China," RIA Novosti, 23 June 1998.{entered 11/12/98 FW}
 
Nuclear Exports Summary Table

Status	Exports	Manufacturer	Exporter	Recipient
Reactors
Ongoing	Two VVER-1000 light-water power reactors	Zarubezhatom- energostroy	Minatom	Lianyungang Nuclear Power Plant
Delivered	Assistance with installation of Tokamak-7 fusion research reactor	Kurchatov Institute	Kurchatov Institute	Institute of Plasma Physics, Hefei
Enrichment, Mining, and Milling
Ongoing	Enrichment facility including gas centrifuge plant	Zarubezhatom- energostroy	Minatom; Ural Electro- chemical Combine	Hanzhun Uranium Enrichment Facility
Training and know-how
Delivered	Neutron source, detector, and fluorescent analysis equipment	Chemical Research Institute, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences	Chemical Research Institute, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences	Sino-Russian Nuclear Analysis Laboratory, Harbin
Ongoing	Technical assistance with fast-breeder reactor project	Unknown	Minatom	China Institute of Atomic Energy
Reported	Technical assistance and joint research projects	Unknown	Unknown	"China-Russia Nuclear Company," Shenzhen

Page last updated 29 April 1999
For more recent developments, see the Nuclear Exports to China Developments file.

Comments or questions? Contact Michael Jasinski at MIIS CNS: Michael.Jasinski@miis.edu

This material is produced independently for NTI by the 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 © 2002 by MIIS.

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