CHINESE REPROCESSING AND NUCLEAR SECURITY ISSUES

China is currently operating 20 nuclear power reactors with installed capacity of 16 GWe. China officially plans to increase its total nuclear capacity to 58 GWe by 2020, and much more are under consideration for the coming decades. China plans to reprocess the civilian spent fuel, and to recycle the plutonium in fast breeder reactors. A pilot reprocessing plant with a capacity of 50tHM/year conducted successfully a hot test in December 2010. Recently the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) plans to build a medium-scale demo reprocessing plant (200 tHM/year) by 2020 and a larger commercial one (800 tHM/year) between 2025 and 2030. China also has two military reprocessing plants which were shut down before 1990. This paper will first assess the security practices of China’s reprocessing facilities and analyze existing regulations. Second, this paper will discuss the security risks China would face if China implements plans for commercial reprocessing plants. Finally, the paper will explore steps to strengthen nuclear security in reprocessing facilities in China.