With a bilateral training and research center inaugurated ahead of the upcoming Washington Nuclear Security Summit, China and the United States are eyeing further cooperation on nuclear security.
CHINA-U.S. NUCLEAR SECURITY CENTER
In December 2013, ground was broken in the southwestern suburb of Beijing for the construction of the China-U.S. nuclear security center, Center of Excellence on Nuclear Security.
More than two years later, the center -- a compound with labs, exhibition areas, classrooms and test sites was erected in early spring.
"This Center of Excellence is a world-class facility for Chinese, regional, and international nuclear security training and technical exchanges," U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said at the center's opening ceremony on March 18 in Beijing.
Occupying roughly four blocks, the China-U.S. facility will be used to conduct research and train staff from China and other Asian nations on issues such as securing hazardous nuclear materials and protecting reactors from attacks.
It is the largest nuclear program financed by both the Chinese and U.S. governments, and also the largest nuclear security center in the Asia-Pacific region.
Described by Moniz as "exemplary," the project was born from the consensus between Beijing and Washington that nuclear terrorism poses a real danger to all, and national leaders can do their part to strengthen every link on the global nuclear security chain.
The two countries' interests are closely aligned on the issue, said Shen Dingli, a member of the Global Council of New York-based Asia Society and a nuclear security expert with China's Fudan University.
The current global regime for keeping nuclear materials away from wrong hands is far from seamless as there are no globally agreed standards for effectively securing nuclear materials, and terrorists are exploiting loopholes in security.
At the moment, making a crude terrorist bomb is far easier than making a safe, reliable weapon, and it is quite possible to make an improvised nuclear device from highly enriched uranium or plutonium being used for civilian purposes, nuclear experts have warned.
"Both China and the United States have nuclear power plants that house nuclear fissile materials and radioactive materials. They certainly do not want these materials to be touched by terrorists," Shen said.
"The two countries share the same interests and they want to seek ways to cooperate. The joint venture to build a Center of Excellence on Nuclear Security in Beijing is an example," he said.
Meanwhile, the timing of the center's launch, just ahead of the upcoming Nuclear Security Summit to be held in Washington on March 31 and April 1, put the China-U.S. cooperation on a more positive note.
NUCLEAR SECURITY SUMMITS
This year, Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to join 50-plus world leaders in Washington to discuss issues such as nuclear proliferation and terrorism at the biennial global security summit.
"I am very confident that President Xi and President (Barack) Obama are going to talk about the appetite that both of our countries have to continue our cooperation," said the U.S. energy secretary.
