US suspends shipping of nuclear materials to China’s CGN amid arms build-up concerns
- The order covers radioactive materials and deuterium for China’s largest state-owned nuclear company, its subsidiaries and related entities
- CGN was placed on a US blacklist in August 2019 for allegedly making efforts to acquire advanced US technology and material for diversion to military uses
The US nuclear power regulator last month suspended the shipment of radioactive materials and a hydrogen isotope used in reactors to China’s largest state-owned nuclear company, CGN, reflecting Washington’s concerns about the country’s build-up of atomic weapons.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in the order, dated September 27, that the White House had determined that the suspension was “necessary to further the national security interests of the United States and to enhance the United States common defence and security consistent with the Atomic Energy Act of 1954”.
The suspension on the exports covers radioactive materials and deuterium for CGN, or China General Nuclear Power Group, its subsidiaries or related entities.
Deuterium is a non-radioactive isotope of the element hydrogen that is used in heavy water fission reactors in nuclear power plants.
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The suspension further tightens controls set in 2018 by the administration of former president Donald Trump on shipments to China of civilian nuclear technology to prevent it from being used for military or other unauthorised purposes.