MORI DOCID 1345922 3 I ZK COPY No Ile 131 3 SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE APPROVED FOR RELEASE DATE AUG 2006 25 January 1960 CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY I OFFICE OF SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE MORI DOCID 1345922 crranI TABLE OF CONTENTS SOVIET UNION li 2 1 if N t I FAR EAST Chinese Communist Nuclear Weapons Program 5 i EASTERN EUROPE i SID 60 2 25 Jan 60 5 MORI DOCID 1345922 FAR EAST Chinese Communist Nuclear Weapons Program UPI 3 'i -- The U S News and World Report published an Jan 60 - article which predicted that Red China will have an atomic bomb within two years The capyrighted article quoted intelligence sources in Hong Kong as saying that the Chinese Communists would explode their first test device in late 1961 or early 1962 It said Red China is six years ahead of its original nuclear schedule According to the magazine Russia has turned over fissionable material test reactors and other equipment to the Peiping Government It said Russian physicists helped to train and worked with China's nuclear experts Comment There can be little doubt that China aspires to acquire a native nuclear weapons capability Intelligence reports indicate that the USSR has aided China during the period 1950-1959 in the location and exploitation of its uranium ore resources The Soviets also have provided China with a research reactor 7 5- 10 MW and a 2 5 million electron volt cyclotron and are aiding in the training and gradual enlargement of Communist China's small corps of nuclear physicists and technicians However we have no evidence of construction of a production reactor or direct Soviet aid in the form of fissionable material or weapons information Unless provided with substantial Soviet aid it is believed that Communist China will not be in a position to test a nuclear device before 1963-1964 SID 60-2 25 Jan 60 This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu