China National Nuclear Co. announced last week that it installed a domestically engineered centrifuge at a uranium enrichment plant in Lanzhou.
Facilities at the site in Gansu Province have been enriching uranium since the mid-1960s, according to the World Nuclear Association. It has historically used Soviet and then Russian technology, which is also in use at a commercial enrichment plant in Shaanxi Province. The military once operated a domestically designed diffusion enrichment plant in Sichuan Province for military purposes using Chinese technology, but it likely shut down in 1989.
The new CNNC plant is notable for its application of indigenous centrifuge technology for civilian nuclear fuel production. China has dozens of new reactors planned or under construction, but the country still relies heavily on imports for uranium and enrichment services.
State-controlled news service Xinhua reported that CNNC invested $280 million in enrichment research and development in 2011.