China's Nuclear Weapons and Testing ProgramGreenpeace April 1996China has used its 43 nuclear tests since 1964 to develop the world's fourth largest nuclear weapons arsenal (only the UK's is smaller). It includes approximately 450 nuclear weapons of at least five different types, made up of around 300 strategic weapons that could be fired from land, air and from submarines and around 150 tactical weapons made up of artillery shells and atomic demolition munitions. Together they have a cumulative yield of over 251 megatons or some 17,000 Hiroshima bombs. China conducted two nuclear tests in 1995, one on 15 May and the other on 17 August. Although many observers expected a further two tests last autumn, China declined to carry out any further tests while the world-wide condemnation of France's nuclear testing program was at its height. CURRENT POLICY ON COMPREHENSIVE TEST BAN TREATY (CTBT)China has said it will abide by a nuclear test ban but probably only when it enters in force (some time after the actual signing). When the current round of negotiations on a CTBT commenced in Geneva on 23 January, China presented a major obstacle to an agreement on a test ban by continuing to insist on the right to conduct so called Peaceful Nuclear Explosions (PNEs). Such explosions could be used to collect data for nuclear weapons development, would be impossible to verify, and would cause widespread environmental destruction. France, the U.S., the U.K., and Russia are proposing a ban on all nuclear tests, the so-called "zero yield" test ban.Furthermore, it is thought China has plans to carry out between four and six more nuclear tests before implementing a test ban. These tests are central to the development of new nuclear weapons systems. Last year's test on 15 May was three days after the end of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review and Extension Conference, where along with other nuclear weapons states China committed itself to work towards nuclear disarmament. CHINA'S TESTING PROGRAMTesting takes place at the Lop Nor site, approximately 265 kilometers south-east of Urumqi in the Xinjian region (due west of Beijing, due north of Kathmandu). The Xinjian region is home to the Uighur people, and China has never allowed any form of independent or outside assessment of the environmental or health impacts of its nuclear testing program. Since testing began in 1964, China has conducted one test on average every 284 days.China's current testing program is thought to involve warheads for two new missile systems, one for deployment in the late 1990s, and one around 2010. The latter may carry several warheads. China is also developing a new sea-launched ballistic missile (JL-2) for deployment on its second generation strategic nuclear-powered submarine. In May 1995, China tested a new ballistic missile with a range of 2,000 kilometers. The chief design laboratory for Chinese nuclear weapons is the Ninth Academy at Mianyang (Sichuan) or the Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP). Plutonium production for weapons purposes, which has taken place at two reactors, in Jiuquan (Gansu) and Guangyuan (Sichuan), reportedly ceased in 1991. However a new plutonium facility is scheduled to open in the mid-1990s. RADIOACTIVITY AND LOP NORA 1991 book, "Radioactive Heaven and Earth," released by International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) has given the following amounts of radioactivity as having been released from Lop Nor.The total amount of plutonium-239 released to the atmosphere as a result of the 23 atmospheric nuclear tests is estimated at 3,300 curies, approximately 48 kilograms in weight. One millionth of a gram of plutonium-239, if inhaled can cause cancer. The amount of plutonium-239 still contained within the Lop Nor site as a result of underground nuclear testing is estimated by IPPNW as 1,800 curies (25 kilograms). A further two million curies of caesium-137 and 1.3 million curies of strontium-90 have also been released into the atmosphere. The radioactive half-life of these materials are 30 and 29 years respectively. Caesium-137 concentrates in muscle tissue, but normally passes out of the body in two years. Strontium-90, however, attaches to the bones and thus stays in the body giving radiation doses over a longer period of time. The above figures are exclusive of the shorter lived fission products, such as iodine-131, which has a radioactive half-life of eight days, which would have also been released. CHINESE NUCLEAR TESTS: 1964-1995The Chinese nuclear test site is at Lop Nor in the western province of Xin Jiang. Since the first test there on 16 October 1964, China has exploded 43 nuclear bombs: 23 in the atmosphere (ceased in 1980); 20 underground (since 1969) plus three unverified seismic events suspected to have been nuclear explosions. China's last atmospheric test was on 16 October 1980 [Data from news accounts and Robert S. Norris, Andrew Burrows, Richard Fieldhouse, "Nuclear Weapons Databook, Vol. 5, British, French and Chinese Nuclear Weapons" (Ballinger, 1994)].
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