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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.

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.