China’s Uranium Enrichment: Current Status, Trends, and Implications

Recently China has significantly expanded its indigenous enrichment capacity to meet the expected rapid increase of enrichment requirements. China does not officially release information on its enrichment capacity. The China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) is operating three large centrifuge enrichment plants that produce LEU for civilian purposes: Lanzhou (Gansu province, Plant 504), Hanzhong (Shaanxi province, Plant 405), and Emeishan (Sichuan province, the Emeishan facility of Plant 814). This work will assess the development of each of the plants and make new estimates of its enrichment capacity. This work will further discuss the potential military implications of Emeishan plant for China’s on-going nuclear weapons buildup.