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Allegations of Russia supplying plutonium to China have surfaced at a posture hearing at the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces.
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Concerns were raised about Rosatom, a Russian state corporation which specialises in nuclear energy, providing highly enriched plutonium for Chinese fast breeder reactors.
US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John F Plumb, speaking at the hearing on 8 March, said China and Russia have placed nuclear weapons, space warfare, and long-range strike at the centre of their strategies to counter the United States, its allies, and partners.
“It’s very troubling to see Russia and China cooperating on this,” Plumb said.
“They may have talking points around it, but there’s no getting around the fact that breeder reactors are plutonium, and plutonium is for weapons.
“So I think the (Defense) Department is concerned. And of course, it matches our concerns about China’s increased expansion of its nuclear forces as well, because you need more plutonium for more weapons.
“China is engaged in a significant and fast-paced expansion and diversification of its nuclear forces. Also, Russia and China view space as a warfighting domain.”
China has an ever-growing inventory of sophisticated long-range strike systems putting US forces at risk at greater and greater distances, Plumb said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s irresponsible nuclear sabre-rattling has further underscored the importance of the US nuclear deterrent, which is the bedrock of national security, he said.
The hearing outlined four priorities for the National Defense Strategy such as to defend the homeland, deter strategic attacks, deter aggression while preparing to prevail in conflict, and building a resilient joint force.
“All four of these priorities rely heavily on our space systems, our missile defences and our nuclear forces,” Plumb said.
“Our allies and partners are an asymmetric advantage that neither China nor Russia can ever hope to match.”
Air Force General Anthony J Cotton, Commander, US Strategic Command; Air Force General Glen D VanHerck, Commander, US Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command; and Army General James H Dickinson, Commander, US Space Command, also provided testimony.
Rosatom released a statement on 28 December last year confirming it had dispatched all shipments to China scheduled for 2022.
These shipments included supplying the first core loading of the CFR-600 fast-neutron reactor, three batches of nuclear fuel and all fuel assemblies, sent by rail from the Elemash Machine-Building Plant in Elektrostal. Additionally, reactor control and protection assemblies were delivered to China by air.
TVEL Fuel Company commerce and international business senior vice-president Oleg Grigoriyev said mock-ups of control and protection system assemblies for CFR-600 were shipped to the customer for testing of the simulation reactor core in late 2021.
“TVEL Fuel Company has fully and on time accomplished all obligations as part of the CFR-600 project,” he said.
“This is another important area of our cooperation in addition to fuel supplies for VVER reactors at Tianwan NPP, development of VVER fuel fabrication at the Yibin plant, as well as fuel supplies for China’s first experimental fast reactor CEFR.
“Rosatom has a unique experience of more than 40 years in the production of fuel for fast reactors, and we see significant potential for its further implementation in development of dual-component nuclear power strategy (with the simultaneous operations of thermal fast neutron reactors) not only in Russia, but also in China.”
