U.S. energy official hails China's role in strengthening nuclear security

U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz on Thursday spoke highly of China's role in strengthening nuclear security.

Moniz cited the Center of Excellence on Nuclear Security, a nuclear security facility that was put into operation recently in Beijing, China, as an example, calling it the result of "terrific collaboration" between the two countries.

The Center of Excellence on Nuclear Security in Beijing, with its capacity of training about 2,000 nuclear security staff every year, is a "tremendous resource for China and the entire region," Moniz said as he visited the Chinese Pavilion at the Nuclear Summit Expo with Xu Dazhe, chairman of China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA).

"We are looking forward to continuing to cooperate with China on technology and some of the training activities," Moniz said. "I think our partnership on the nuclear security realm will be so important to world."

The Center, the largest of its kind in the Asia Pacific region, will provide a forum for bilateral and regional best practice exchanges, and serve as a venue for demonstrating advanced technologies related to nuclear security.

China and the U.S. have presented a "successful and satisfactory" result in the field of nuclear cooperation, said Xu, chairman of China Atomic Energy Authority.

China and the U.S. agreed to establish the Center at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington in 2010.

Under the agreement, the Center, located in the Fangshan District, Beijing, is run and administered by China, while the U.S. provides nuclear-security equipment. Endit