nuclear-news

The formal notice initially did not draw any headlines. Its unheralded release on April 21 reflected the administration’s anxiety that it might alarm members of Congress and non-proliferation experts who fear China’s growing naval power – and the possibility of nuclear technology falling into the hands of third parties with nefarious intentions.

Now, however, Congress is turning its attention to the agreement. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is set to hear from five Obama officials in a closed-door meeting on Monday to weigh the commercial, political and security implications of extending the accord. The private session will permit discussion of a classified addendum from the Director of National Intelligence analysing China’s nuclear export control system and what Mr Obama’s notification called its “interactions with other countries of proliferation concern”.

The White House’s willingness to push ahead with the nuclear accord with Beijing illustrates the evolving relationship between the world’s two largest powers, which, while eyeing each other with mutual suspicion and competitiveness, also view each other as vital economic and strategic global partners. The Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry trade group, argues that the new agreement will clear the way for US companies to sell dozens of nuclear reactors to China, the biggest nuclear power market in the world………..http://www.smh.com.au/world/barack-obamas-nuclear-deal-with-china-quiet-submarines-and-the-south-china-sea-20150511-ggyl25.html