China Needs to Promote a Strong Nuclear Security Culture

China has substantially advanced its nuclear security system, but China should take further steps to install a complete, reliable, and effective security system to ensure that all its weapon-usable nuclear materials, nuclear facilities, and nuclear transports are effectively protected against the full spectrum of plausible terrorist and criminal threats. Here are some suggestions for improvement.

1. China needs to update and clarify its design basis threat requirements for all military and civilian nuclear facilities. China should review and upgrade the criteria used for designing physi­cal protection for its nuclear facilities. Operators should develop and implement security plans that provide effective protection against a threat that includes the full spectrum of plausible adversaries and tactics—including not just brute force attacks but also deception, and stealth, from both insiders and outsiders working together.

2. China should update its 1987 regulations and 1990 rules, and issue rules and regulations that are more stringent and clear, based on at least the minimum DBT standard, to protect against the potential threat of nuclear terror­ism. The regulations should be strong enough that, if followed, effective nuclear security would result. Also the government and operators should take measures to assure effective implementation of laws and regulations. The focus should be on continual improvement, constantly working to find and fix remaining vulnerabilities and find more effective approaches.

3. To ensure that nuclear security systems are actually implemented effectively, the development of a strong security culture is imperative. One key element of an effective nuclear security culture is that relevant individuals hold a deeply rooted belief that nuclear security is important and that insider and outsider threats are credible.

However, many Chinese experts continue to doubt that there is a credible threat to Chinese nuclear materials and facilities. China also faces the challenge of complacency within its nuclear industry. In fact, the possibility of an insider theft of nuclear materials cannot be ruled out, particularly as China continues to transform into a market-oriented society and becomes increasingly corrupt.  Also, outsider terrorist attacks—in particular, the terrorist forces of the East Turkestan movement may someday pose a real threat to China’s nuclear facilities. Another risk is the growing possibility of fissile material and nuclear weapons smuggling.

Each operator should establish a targeted program to assess and improve its facility’s security culture. Each staff member should not only scrupulously abide by the existing nuclear security regime, but also actively and continuously find further ways to improve it.

4. China’s improvement of nuclear security has benefited greatly from international cooperation, in particular, between the CAEA and both the IAEA and the US DOE. This cooperation should continue and grow stronger. In recent years, China’s cooperation with the US has included an extensive series of ex­changes, including cooperation to build the Center of Excellence (CoE) on Nuclear Security in Beijing. Also China-US cooperation needs to be expanded from the current civilian efforts to the military sector.

China should encourage its relevant nuclear security professionals to participate in WINS and other workshops and training that facilitate the identification and sharing of best practices. Moreover, China should joint more multilateral initiatives aiming to strengthen nuclear security implementation...

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