The United States and the regulatory China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA) have commissioned a new nuclear security Center of Excellence (COE) in China, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced last week. Officials from the DOE, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), and Department of Defense worked with the CAEA to open the center, which is intended to develop Chinese domestic nuclear materials security training, the announcement said. The COE, based on a memorandum of understanding signed in 2010, will also “provide a forum for bilateral and regional best practice exchanges, and serve as a venue for demonstrating advanced technologies related to nuclear security,” it said.
The DOE’s Sandia, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, and Pacific Northwest national laboratories – along with the Pentagon’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency – offered gear and know-how for the design and development of the COE, the Sandia National Laboratories said Thursday. “The Sandia Labs team consulted with the Chinese State Nuclear Security Technology Center (SNSTC) on the design, operation and testing of a physical protection system at a mock material processing nuclear facility at the COE for the proper handling and storage of special nuclear material,” according to the announcement. It added that Sandia will help design nuclear security curricula for Chinese professionals.
The NNSA’s Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation has collaborated with the CAEA on over 50 nuclear security best practices training and technical exchanges, activities that will continue through the COE, the DOE’s announcement said. It noted that the NNSA is “actively engaged with current and planned COEs in Japan, Republic of Korea, and Kazakhstan.” Activities the U.S. supports at COEs around the world include physical protection training, nuclear forensics, nuclear detection, and emergency preparedness and response.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the final Nuclear Security Summit to be held next week in Washington, D.C., and plans to meet with President Barack Obama and other heads of state on the sidelines of the event.
