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China to sell nuclear reactors to Pakistan, as U.S. to sell them to India

Having muscled the Indian deal through the NSG in 2008, the US is likely to struggle to forge a consensus against China’s deal with Pakistan.

US defies China on Pakistan reactors Jeremy Page, Islamabad The Australian * June 22, 2010 CHINA and the US are on a collision course over Chinese plans to build two nuclear reactors in Pakistan.This is despite the country’s chronic political instability and history of selling nuclear secrets to North Korea, Iran and Libya.

China is expected to formally announce the plans to build the 650-megawatt reactors in Punjab province at a meeting in New Zealand of the Nuclear Suppliers Group – the 46 countries that dominate and try to control the world’s atomic trade.The US has already voiced its disapproval before the meeting, which starts today, and will try to forge a consensus on updating the rules designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.
US officials say that the plan requires special exemption from the NSG, which China joined in 2004, as Pakistan has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and could, therefore, divert some technology to its nuclear weapons program or to another country.

China and Pakistan disagree, pointing out that the US set a precedent by sealing a deal to sell civilian nuclear fuel and technology to India in 2006, even though Delhi had yet to sign the treaty.

That deal, which lifted a US ban imposed after India tested its first nuclear device in 1974, was seen as the cornerstone of a new partnership with Delhi designed to counterbalance China’s influence in Asia. However, critics say that it undermined the international non-proliferation regime.

Having muscled the Indian deal through the NSG in 2008, the US is likely to struggle to forge a consensus against China’s deal with Pakistan.

US defies China on Pakistan reactors | The Australian

June 22, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | China, politics international | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons, reactors