BEIJING - In an effort to promote effective nuclear security and safeguards, the Chinese government is planning to build a center in the suburb of Beijing where personnel from China and other Asian countries would be trained, said a nuclear official.

The Center of Excellence on Nuclear Security, an idea originally put forward by President Hu Jintao in April 2010 during the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, is expected to be built next year in Beijing, said Liu Daming, deputy director of the department of radioactive chemistry, China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE).

"The location has been selected and construction will begin after project review, including that of technical design and relevant approval procedures," Liu told China Daily during an exclusive interview on Sunday.

Liu said he participated in several rounds of talks with experts from the United States in the recent months, to discuss technical arrangements for the center.

The center will help meet the training needs of developing countries to strengthen their capabilities of nuclear material accounting and control; the physical protection of nuclear material and nuclear facilities and to promote the best practices in maintaining nuclear security throughout the region, Liu said.

During the State visit of President Hu Jintao to Washington in January, China Atomic Energy Authority signed a memorandum of understanding with the United State's Department of Energy to establish the center of excellence.

The center will serve as a forum for exchanging technical information, sharing best practices, developing training courses, and promoting technical collaborations that will enhance nuclear security in China and throughout Asia, according to a press release of the US National Nuclear Security Administration on Jan 19, 2011.

The use of nuclear power has grown rapidly in China in the recent years. The country's nuclear power plants are expected to have a total capacity of 40 million kilowatts during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) period, more than double their existing 16.97 million kilowatts of output, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The center will have the capacity to train protective force personnel using scenario-driven response exercises and give hands-on training on international nuclear safeguards requirements and inspection techniques, said Chen Xiaopeng, deputy director of the publicity department of CIAE.

The staff needs to be thoroughly professional in dealing with issues of public security, Chen said.

"Accidents happen very rarely in a nuclear field, but we still need to pay great attention to the possibility of any."

On May 23, overseas media reports about detection of abnormal radioactivity in the operation systems at Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant had led to instant public anxiety.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection issued a statement afterwards, saying that several fuel rods malfunctioned in the plant. The leaked radioactive material was sealed from coming in contact with the external environment, using the protective screens in the plant, according to a Xinhua report.

China Daily

(China Daily 11/14/2011 page5)