Ian Armstrong
The newspaper highlights that "Beijing has significantly ramped up operations at crucial nuclear warhead manufacturing sites, with a dramatic surge in activity since 2021."
Notable alterations have been detected in the last five years at a site in Sichuan Province that manufactures plutonium cores for nuclear warheads. The protected zone has more than doubled in size, with buildings being restored and new ones being erected, including close to the primary production facility.
Additionally, since 2019, significant activity has been noted at a different site in Zitong County, Sichuan Province, where it is thought they are manufacturing the explosive required to initiate a chain reaction in a warhead. Significant construction work has been noticed close to structures probably meant for explosive testing.
WP also disclosed in mid-November that Chinese officials are enlarging a site in the Lop Nur area of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where nuclear arms were examined in the 20th century. China signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty in 1996; however, similar to the United States, it has not yet ratified the agreement.
source: washingtonpost.com
Notable alterations have been detected in the last five years at a site in Sichuan Province that manufactures plutonium cores for nuclear warheads. The protected zone has more than doubled in size, with buildings being restored and new ones being erected, including close to the primary production facility.
Additionally, since 2019, significant activity has been noted at a different site in Zitong County, Sichuan Province, where it is thought they are manufacturing the explosive required to initiate a chain reaction in a warhead. Significant construction work has been noticed close to structures probably meant for explosive testing.
WP also disclosed in mid-November that Chinese officials are enlarging a site in the Lop Nur area of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where nuclear arms were examined in the 20th century. China signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty in 1996; however, similar to the United States, it has not yet ratified the agreement.
source: washingtonpost.com
