this is interesting...

China, US close to deal on nuclear technology trade: report

Wed Sep 1, 8:41 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - China and the United States have nearly settled a dispute over nuclear technology, a move that would allow US companies to sell nuclear reactors to China.

The deal could mean billions of dollars for US companies that have lobbied hard to get Washington and Beijing to reach agreement, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

"This is happening," a US State Department official told the Journal on condition of anonymity. He said sanctions, export controls and most other barriers to sales have been removed.

A US-Chinese agreement to allow cooperation on nuclear energy signed in 1985 was put on hold after Washington imposed sanctions on Beijing for using force to quell the Tiananmen Square democracy demonstrations in 1989.

Trade in nuclear technology was further stalled by additional export controls and concerns about previous Chinese proliferation of nuclear technology to Pakistan and Iran.

Since last year, China has tried to meet US concerns by agreeing to inspections to prove it isn't transferring US technology to third parties and joining a US-backed group of nations that seeks to control nuclear exports to prevent weapons proliferation, the Journal said.

The deal eliminates the advantage by French, German and Canadian companies in the Chinese nuclear market, the Journal said. The business daily said Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong told visiting US Vice President Dick Cheney in April that China will build 24 to 30 nuclear-power plants by 2020, at a cost of 1.5 billion dollars each.

A spokesman for Westinghouse, one of the firms that pressured the administration of President George W. Bush to reach a deal, said that firm plans to bid on two projects which already have been approved by Chinese officials, the daily said.