China’s Imports of Russian Uranium Spark Fear of New Arms Race
Russian nuclear fuel deliveries to a new Chinese reactor are raising US concerns about the potential to produce weapons-grade plutonium.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks with Chinese President Xi Jinping via video link at the Kremlin in Moscow on Dec. 30.
Photographer: Mikhail Klimentyev/AFP/Getty Images
On the same day in December when Chinese and US diplomats said they’d held constructive talks to reduce military tensions, Russian engineers were delivering a massive load of nuclear fuel to a remote island just 220 kilometers (124 miles) off Taiwan’s northern coast.
China’s so-called fast-breeder reactor on Changbiao Island is one of the world’s most closely-watched nuclear installations. US intelligence officials forecast that when it begins working this year, the CFR-600 will produce weapons-grade plutonium that could help Beijing increase its stockpile of warheads as much as four-fold in the next 12 years. That would allow China to match the nuclear arsenals currently deployed by the US and Russia.