Advancing real nuclear security cooperation
- By Shen Dingli
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E-mail China Daily, March 30, 2016
As of the end of October 2015, in Chinese mainland 27 nuclear generating units had been in operation, with a total installed capacity of 25.5 GW, and another 25 nuclear generating units with a total installed capacity of 27.51 GW had been under construction.
The scale of China's ongoing capacity construction is the highest in the world, and its total nuclear power capacity, in terms of energy and number of plants, including both operational and under construction, is ranked fourth and third in the world.
Despite China's excellent record of nuclear safety and security, it faces challenges to make sure its growing civilian nuclear power program will be not be sabotaged. Thus Beijing-Washington cooperation to lift China's domestic capacity as well as those for other countries will ensure nuclear security for the Asia-Pacific region.
At the first Nuclear Security Summit in 2010, Beijing and Washington forged a partnership to co-build a China-based Center of Excellence on Nuclear Security, with China building and operating the facility and the US offering technical support. It was completed and started operations recently, and now stands as a tangible symbol of cooperation on nuclear security across the Pacific.
The last three Nuclear Security Summits have addressed various aspects of nuclear security, including the global nuclear security system, the International Atomic Energy Agency, nuclear materials, radioactive sources, nuclear security and safety, transportation, nuclear inspection, nuclear culture, intelligence cooperation, illegal trafficking and nuclear forensics, etc. The summits have also proposed 19 non-binding commitments or incentive measures.
China has been quick to implement some of these measures. It has also pledged to cut the use of highly enriched uranium as much as possible, depending upon the viability of its economy and technology. And it has helped Ghana convert its highly enriched uranium-based research reactor to a low enriched uranium-based one, making it less vulnerable to the threat of nuclear terrorism.
Besides, China is collaborating with the US to reconfigure Iran's heavy water reactor in Arak to make it more proliferation resistant. All these moves will help promote a "new type of major-country relationship" between China and US.
The author is a professor at and associate dean of the Institute of International Studies, Fudan University.
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