Spotlight: China's nuclear security record reinforces its image as responsible player, experts

China's commitment to facilitating stronger global action on nuclear security are well-established, and its safe nuclear security record is for all to see, said U.S. and Chinese scholars ahead of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington next week.

"China has made significant progress on the nuclear security system," said Zhang Hui, a senior research associate at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

"It includes the adoption of a security approach based on a design basis threat, the use of modern physical protection, material control, and material accounting technologies, as well as requirements for in-depth vulnerability assessments of security systems," he noted.

By the end of October 2015, there were 27 nuclear power generating units and another 24 under construction in the Chinese mainland, according to official figures.

Such development has brought about safety concerns, but China is confident about its nuclear security capacity, said Shen Dingli, a professor of international relations at Fudan University.

"In China, every gram of nuclear material is carefully handled by at least two people and kept on record," he said.

"China has very stringent supervision standards and safety regulations for its nuclear facilities and materials," said Shen. "It has given China much ground to boast that it has never lost a single gram of nuclear material since 1949."

What's more, China has built eight technical support centers and three training bases addressing nuclear emergency, said Xu Dazhe, head of the China Atomic Energy Authority, in January 2016.

Matthew Bunn with Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government said that China has come a long way in building a strong nuclear security system.

"There was an attitude in the past in some places in China that the nuclear threats were unrealistic and not much was needed to protect nuclear security," said Bunn.

But the attitude had changed over the years, he said. "China is investing a good bit more and has tighter rules and more requirements in nuclear security."

One concrete example, Bunn said, is the China-U.S. Center of Excellence on Nuclear Security which is scheduled to officially open this month in Beijing.

Equipped with labs, exhibition areas, classrooms and response force exercise facilities, the center is the largest of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region and will deal with protection and control of nuclear materials and nuclear security international exchange.

The center will be able to train about 2,000 nuclear security staff every year, said Deng Ge, director of the center.

China is also working with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to provide financial support, technical demonstration and personnel training for other countries, according to Miao Wei, the Chinese minister of industry and information technology.

Page Stoutland, vice president for Scientific and Technical Affairs at Nuclear Threats Initiative, said China is increasingly seen as a responsible player in the global nuclear system.

"China does participate in the nuclear summits and engages with the IAEA and has created the Center of Excellence. All of these are very good signs in terms of China's standing in the nuclear security community," said Stoutland.

In his view, all countries need to cooperate more closely with the UN nuclear watchdog.

As the fourth and very likely the last Nuclear Security Summit approaches, the world will continue the quest for a stronger global nuclear security system against nuclear terrorism.

According to Stoutland, the crucial part is for all participants to come up with some mechanisms to sustain the progress.

"The questions are, will there be future meetings, what role might the IAEA have, and what role might other international organizations have," Stoutland noted.

China has actively cooperated with other countries to improve nuclear security, and such international cooperation should continue and grow stronger, said Zhang of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

As a major participant of the nuclear summit, China has made much progress in enforcing its nuclear security system, but Zhang believes there is still room for improvement.

China should and can take further steps to install a complete, reliable and effective security system to protect its nuclear facilities and materials against the full spectrum of terrorism, he said.

Zhang also emphasized that it is important for China to strengthen its nuclear security culture.

"To ensure that nuclear security systems are actually implemented effectively, the development of a strong security culture is imperative. Effective security is provided not only by advanced devices but even more importantly by human choices," Zhang said. Endi