Russia confirms that it is supplying China with enriched uranium

Russia has officially confirmed that it is supplying highly enriched uranium to two Chinese reactors. TVEL, a subsidiary of Rosatom, has been authorized to export the fuel until 2026.

Source. This was reported by the South China Morning Post.

The fuel is intended for the CFR-600 nuclear power plant in Xiapu in the southeast of China. The design of the plant includes two fast neutron reactors with a capacity of 600 megawatts each. The first of them is expected to be launched at the end of this year, the publication specifies.

Deliveries from Russia to China began in September, and three batches of fuel were delivered by early 2023, World Nuclear News reported earlier. They are highly enriched uranium with a concentration of more than 30% uranium-235.

According to the US, from September to December 2022, Russia exported 25 tons of enriched uranium to China. As a result, the supply for the CFR-600 reactor was larger in volume than all that the United States and the IAEA have seized in the last three decades worldwide, Bloomberg noted.

Fast neutron reactors require more than 20% uranium-235, while nuclear weapons usually contain about 90% uranium-235 and plutonium.

In late February, the United States became concerned about the supply of nuclear fuel from Russia to China. The Pentagon believed that this could be the beginning of a new arms race, Bloomberg wrote.