-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a prelude to war! Now, China gets uranium Clinton approves transfer that could help Beijing's weapons production ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- By Charles Smith � 1999 WorldNetDaily.com The Clinton administration has approved the shipment to Communist China of uranium U-235 -- the nuclear isotope used in the atomic bomb that was exploded over Hiroshima in 1945. According to official statements from the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a public notice for the approval was published in the Federal Register Oct. 15. NRC spokesman Ron Hauber confirmed that the NRC approved the transfer after being "consulted" by the Department of Energy. "This is a transfer of American U-235 previously sold to Germany," stated Hauber. "The Germans consulted with the Department of Energy and the NRC through EURATOM, the European atomic energy agency. The Germans requested permission to sell the U-235 to China. The NRC approved with no objection, but the actual transfer and oversight is the responsibility of the Department of Energy." According to the public notice, the Department of Energy proposed the uranium be transferred as part of a "'subsequent arrangement' under the Agreement for Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy Between the United States of America and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM)." However, the re-transfer to China is being approved under a similar "Agreement for Cooperation Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the People's Republic of China Concerning the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy." Specifically, the Department of Energy notice states that the Germans sought "the retransfer of 32,574 grams of slightly irradiated fuel spheres containing 5,456.145 grams of the isotope U-235 (16.76 percent enrichment) from EURATOM (Germany) to the People's Republic of China." According to the Energy statement, the U-235 will be transferred "for use as research material in the 10 megawatt High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTR-10) which is being constructed at the Institute of Nuclear Energy Technology (INET) in Beijing, China." China is unlikely to use the U-235 isotope for weapons. The low percentage (16.76 percent) of uranium U-235 fissionable material being sold is far below the 95 percent required to manufacture a bomb. And China is reported to be capable of generating enough nuclear material to equip over 800 nuclear weapons currently in its stockpile. However, atomic industry insiders consider the transfer of the U-235 "unique." The 16.76 percentage of the atomic isotope is over three times higher than the 5 percent normally used for commercial power reactors. Yet it is also considered an unusually "low content" for a normal research nuclear plant. So how will the U-235 be put to use by the Chinese? The HTR-10 plant is under the control of the Institute of Nuclear Energy Technology in Beijing. But INET is also directly associated with China National Nuclear Corporation, a manufacturer of nuclear weapons, and the China Academy of Physics, the PLA weapons design bureau for all Chinese nuclear bombs. The U-235 was originally transferred from Germany to Switzerland for "fabrication into graphite-coated fuel spheres" and returned to Germany, according to the Department of Energy statement. The use of graphite and the size of the Chinese HTR-10 nuclear reactor have raised questions about whether the facility is capable of creating plutonium -- the element used in most modern nuclear weapons. Nuclear reactors that create plutonium from U-235 isotopes are called "breeder" reactors. China reportedly does not have a "breeder" reactor. Other potential uses for the HTR design include military nuclear power for warships, beam-weapon anti-missile defenses and military weapons production. The Department of Energy has so far not answered questions about the uranium transfer. Trisha Dedik, Department of Energy director for International Policy and Analysis Division, Office of Arms Control and Nonproliferation, did not return repeated phone calls from WorldNetDaily regarding the U-235 transfer to China. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Charles Smith is a WorldNetDaily staff writer. **COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. 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