2016年CRI More Effective Steps on Nuclear Security to be Taken in China（在线收听）

This week's meetings in the US capital are due to focus on a number of areas.

They include not only the safe use, storage and transportation of nuclear raw materials, but also how to prevent attacks against nuclear facilities.

Li Sen with the State Nuclear Security Technology Center says these are areas Chinese President Xi Jinping and other world leaders are going to touch on at this week's Nuclear Security Summit.

"During the summit, participating countries are expected to reach a consensus on strengthening nuclear security, as well as better each other's responsibilities. The summit is also expected to focus on constructing an international legal framework on nuclear security, as well as helping all nations improve their nuclear security capabilities. This is something which will require international cooperation."

The theft and trafficking of nuclear materials to terror groups remains a major concern, particularly from countries where there may be difficulties in securing nuclear materials.

In this regard, China has been active in taking steps to reduce the threat of nuclear materials getting into the wrong hands.

Professor Shen Dingli with Fudan University in Shanghai is an expert in nuclear affairs, and is trained nuclear physicist.

He notes that on top of Chinese nuclear experts recently helping Ghana convert its research reactor from highly-enriched to low-enriched uranium, the largest nuclear security center in the Asia-Pacific –Center of Excellence on Nuclear Security a joint project between China and the US - recently opened in Beijing.

"China is responsible for the personnel, site construction, operations and management while the United States is responsible for the advanced technologies and facilities themselves. It is a big center, which will provide nuclear-security education and training not only for China, but also for other countries, especially those in the Asian-Pacific region, so that they will be more capable of defending themselves against terrorist attacks on nuclear facilities and theft of nuclear materials."

The Center is operated by the State Nuclear Security Technology Center.

Li Sen with the Center says it will also help the country's nuclear power technology go abroad.

"Through China's "Belt and Road Initiative," we are exporting nuclear technology projects. But we are also willing to export our nuclear security technology. We'd like to make sure that not only the nuclear stations built within our country are safely guarded, but those exported will also be equipped by high-level security to prevent theft. We're ensuring that workers on those sites are properly trained."

Around 50 different countries are going to be represented at this year's Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, which runs through Friday.

For CRI, I'm Niu Honglin.