Russia to supply enriched uranium to China

The United States has expressed concern over reports that Russia is supplying China with enriched uranium. Its fission product can be used to make nuclear bombs.

According to the US Department of Defense, Russia is about to supply China with highly enriched uranium. This material is intended to be used in “fast breeder” type nuclear reactors. Fission in these reactors produces plutonium, which can also be used in nuclear weapons.

Processing apparently takes place through the state-owned Russian company Rosatom. “It’s very troubling to see Russia and China working together in this area,” said John F. Plumb, assistant secretary of defense for space policy. According to the Ministry of Defense, this information is based on reports from publicly available sources.

China can also make good reasons for civilian use. But it did not believe the defense spokesperson. “Plutonium is for guns, so I think the Department of Defense is concerned.” The reports also add to concerns about China’s increasing nuclear power. More guns require more plutonium,” Plumb said.

According to a Pentagon official, China and Russia have placed nuclear weapons, space warfare and long-range strikes at the center of their strategies. The U.S. sees China’s increasingly long-range missiles posing a threat from an increasing distance, Plumb told the House committee.

Ralf Wobel, a China expert from the East Asia Center at the Zwickau University of Applied Sciences, sees a shift in Russian-Chinese relations in an interview with Bild newspaper. “One thing is certain: China is a step less neutral in the Ukraine conflict, but increasing its cooperation with Russia – now also in the military-strategic area,” he said.

Under President Putin, Russia has become one of the world’s largest uranium producers. “Russia, through its giant state nuclear company Rosatom, dominates the global nuclear supply chain,” the New York Times wrote a few days ago. According to it, 18 European nuclear reactors came from the Russian nuclear power plant, and Rosatom is often involved in the operation. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia was placed under the supervision of a state-owned company. The Kremlin leader reportedly ordered this personally.

So far, the Russian nuclear industry has been exempted from sanctions related to the war in Ukraine. Member States have been unable to agree to measures in the latest EU sanctions package. Hungary in particular is apparently obstinate: Rosatom is building two new reactor blocks for the Hungarian nuclear power plant in Baux.

The UK has imposed sanctions only on senior managers at the Russian state nuclear company Rosatom, two major defense firms and four banks.

So Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda insists on more far-reaching measures even after the tenth set of EU sanctions against Russia. In particular, he wants to campaign for punitive measures against the Russian state-owned company Rosatom and the Russian nuclear industry. “We have always stressed that what Russia is doing in the nuclear sector – destabilizing and posing a very real threat to nuclear power plants in Ukraine – cannot go without consequences.”