1AC--v2

China is planning a massive expansion of nuclear reprocessing capabilities – that causes other Asian countries to follow suit and undermines non-prolif

 * Green 16** [Jim Green ‒ Nuclear Monitor editor, “Reprocessing and plutonium stockpiling in East Asia,” //Nuclear Monitor//, Issue: #82145510, June 4, 2016, https://wiseinternational.org/nuclear-monitor/821/reprocessing-and-plutonium-stockpiling-east-asia]

China's reprocessing plans At an October 2015 session of the First Committee session of the

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comment on Moniz's remarks and CNNC said its press officers weren't available.19

East Asian reprocessing catalyzes a race to stockpile plutonium --- that provides a cover for weapons development

 * Sokolski 16** [Henry, executive director of The Nonproliferation Policy Education Center in Arlington, Virginia; an adjunct professor at Georgetown Univ, “Can East Asia avoid a nuclear explosive materials arms race?,” //Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists,// March 26, 2016, http://thebulletin.org/can-east-asia-avoid-nuclear-explosive-materials-arms-race9295]

Later this week, from March 31 to April 1, Washington will host the

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and China to follow America’s example of //deferring the commercializing of plutonium fuels//.

Reprocessing arms races cause an atmosphere of paranoia and instability that escalates to nuclear acquisition and causes global prolif

 * Armstrong 16** [Ian Armstrong is a Supervisor and Researcher at Wikistrat, he previously assisted in research at Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania, Scottish Parliament, and Hudson Institute's Center for Political-Military Analysis, where he has focused on non-proliferation and international energy, his research has been presented at conferences at Tufts University and University of Edinburgh, and his analysis has been featured at prominent outlets such as Business Insider, Foreign Policy Association, CBS News, and RealClearEnergy, “East Asian plutonium policies risk regional stability,” Global Risk Insight, April 25, 2016, http://globalriskinsights.com/2016/04/east-asian-plutonium-policies]

In contrast, China’s plutonium reprocessing ambitions are only now beginning to materialize into concrete

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interest in nuclear reprocessing far outweigh any benefit achieved in nuclear waste management.

Unmanaged tech breakout causes nuclear war --- commercial reprocessing triggers the link
Sokolski 9 [Henry Sokolski, Executive Director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, 6/1/2009, Avoiding a Nuclear Crowd, []]

Fissile for peace and war Compounding this worrisome prospect are large amounts of weapons-

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, would ever want. None of this, however, is inevitable.

Prolif causes extinction --- only impact capable of breaching mutually assured deterrence

 * Kroenig 15** [Matthew, Associate Professor and International Relations Field Chair in the Department of Government and School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, “The History of Proliferation Optimism: Does It Have a Future?,” //Journal of Strategic Studies//, Volume 38, Issue 1-2, 2015]

The spread of nuclear weapons poses at least six severe threats to international peace and

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, any one of those crises could result in a //catastrophic nuclear exchange//.

Engagement with global markets gives the US leverage to shape reprocessing norms – the alternative is proliferation
Wallace et al, 13 – CSIS Senior Advisor [Michael, John Kotek, Sarah Williams, Paul Nadeau, Thomas Hundertmark, George David Banks, June, CSIS, Restoring Us Leadership in Nuclear Energy, [|https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3f public/legacy_files/files/publication/130614_ RestoringUSLeadershipNuclearEnergy_ WEB.pdf], accessed 7/17/16, ge]

CONTROLLING THE SPREAD OF ENRICHMENT AND REPROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES ¶ Growth in nuclear electricity production outside

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a //loss of leverage in persuading aspiring nuclear nations to refrain from////reprocessing.//

China abandoning reprocessing now is key --- encourages a shift to safer tech --- delay ensures bureaucratic momentum locks-in long-term reprocessing

 * Nature 16** [Nature editorial, Nature is “the weekly, international, interdisciplinary journal of science”, Editor-in-Chief: Philip Campbell, BSc, aeronautical engineering, University of Bristol; MSc, astrophysics, Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London; PhD and postdoctoral fellowship, upper atmospheric physics, University of Leicester, “The nuclear option: China is vigorously promoting nuclear energy, but its pursuit of reprocessing is misguided,” //Nature//, May 4, 2016, http://www.nature.com/news/the-nuclear-option-1.19844

If there’s one country that could disprove the old joke among engineers about nuclear power

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and developing technologies that might enable nuclear energy to play a larger part.

Global nuclear power plants are vulnerable to both physical and cyber terrorist attacks—now is key to establish good practices

 * Decker and Rauhut 16** [Debra, Senior Advisor at the Stimson Center’s Managing Across Boundaries Initiative, strategy and risk expert with a specialization in critical infrastructure and weapons of mass destruction, Kathryn, attorney specializing in international security, works primarily on nuclear security governance, accountability, and liability issues, “Nuclear Energy: Securing the Future”, January 2016, https://www.stimson.org/sites/default/files/file-attachments/Nuclear-Energy-web-122315.pdf]//DBI//

//__NUCLEAR POWER FACES UNCERTAINTIES AND RISKS__ ∂ __Global nuclear expansion comes with__// __increased concerns//__ ∂

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__the development and potentially widespread use of small modular reactors in the future__.

Theft of nuclear material is the only scenario for nuclear terrorism—security improvements are key

 * Bunn et al 16** [Matthew, Professor of Practice at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, winner of the American Physical Society's Joseph A. Burton Forum Award for "outstanding contributions in helping to formulate policies to decrease the risks of theft of nuclear weapons and nuclear materials", Martin Malin, Executive Director of the Project on Managing the Atom at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, research focuses on security consequences of the growth and spread of nuclear energy, Nickolas Roth, Research Associate at the Belfer Center’s Project on Managing the Atom, Research Fellow at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland, William Tobey, Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School, former deputy administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation at the National Nuclear Security Administration, “Preventing Nuclear Terrorism: Continuous Improvement or Dangerous Decline?”, March 2016, http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/PreventingNuclearTerrorism-Web.pdf]//DBI//

// Two years ago, when the last nuclear security summit occurred, the Islamic State //

// AND //

vulnerabilities//__. Nuclear security that is not getting better is probably getting worse__.

Extincton
Myhrvold 2014 (Nathan P [chief executive and founder of Intellectual Ventures and a former chief technology officer at Microsoft]; Strategic Terrorism: A Call to Action; cco.dodlive.mil/files/2014/04/Strategic_Terrorism_corrected_II.pdf; kdf)

Technology contains no inherent moral directive—it empowers people, whatever their intent,

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, and bombings in major cities. Strategic objectives cannot be far behind.

Cyberattacks cause grid collapse and nuclear meltdowns

 * Baylon et al 15** [Caroline, Information Security Research Lead at AXA, Master's degree, Social Science of the Internet (Focus on cyber security and internet policy), Roger Brunt, appointed Director, Office for Civil Nuclear Security, UK, appointed Head of Transformation in the UK's newly formed Office for Nuclear Regulation, member of the Director General's Advisory Group on Nuclear Security, David Livingstone, Associate Fellow, International Security, Chatham House, “Cyber Security at Civil Nuclear Facilities: Understanding the Risks”, September 2015, https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/files/chathamhouse/field/field_document/20151005CyberSecurityNuclearBaylonBruntLivingstone.pdf]//DBI//

//__A cyber attack on a nuclear plant could cause a__// __widespread loss of power//__.

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time as that loss of offsite power and the disruption of standby generators.

Cyberattacks that collapse the grid go nuclear
Tilford 2012 (Robert, Graduate US Army Airborne School, July 27, “Cyber attackers could shut down the electric grid for the entire east coast”, [], brackets edit out ableist language)

To make matters worse a cyber attack that can take out a civilian power grid

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include the use of “nuclear weapons”, if authorized by the President.

Meltdowns cause extinction
Lendman 11 [Stephen, Research Associate -- Center for Research on Globalization, 3-13, “Nuclear Meltdown in Japan,” http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2011/03/13/nuclear-meltdown-in-japan]

For years, Helen Caldicott warned it's coming. In her 1978 book, "

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or face extinction. No one listened. The Doomsday Clock keeps ticking.

1ac – plan
====The United States federal government should offer to lift restrictions on foreign ownership of nuclear power reactors for investors from the People’s Republic of China in exchange for the People’s Republic of China suspending nuclear spent fuel reprocessing development programs, expanding anti-proliferation outreach efforts targeted at the domestic nuclear industry, and establishing high-level intelligence exchanges between China National Nuclear Corp. and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.====

China is leapfrogging America’s nuclear industry --- refusing to open domestic plants up to foreign investment means the U.S. gets left behind

 * Desai and Schroeder 16** [Sachin Desai is a law clerk for the Atomic Safety & Licensing Board Panel at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Kathleen Schroeder is an attorney with the Department of Energy General Counsel's Office for Civilian Nuclear Programs, “U.S. Nuclear Foreign Ownership Policy Ready for a Refreshed Interpretation,” Energy Law Journal Vol. 37, No. 1, 2016]

A. Increasing Globalization of the Nuclear Energy Industry With ninety-nine reactors producing

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taken foreign funding and may //even be majority-foreign-owned//. n37

====The plan revitalizes the US nuclear industry through opening up US nuclear plants to Chinese investment in exchange for approving their nuclear tech. China says yes- they agreed to a similar QPQ with Britain and they’re trying to expand to the U.S. now====


 * Desai and Schroeder 16** [Sachin Desai is a law clerk for the Atomic Safety & Licensing Board Panel at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Kathleen Schroeder is an attorney with the Department of Energy General Counsel's Office for Civilian Nuclear Programs, “U.S. Nuclear Foreign Ownership Policy Ready for a Refreshed Interpretation,” Energy Law Journal Vol. 37, No. 1, 2016]

B. The Need to Revisit Restrictions on Foreign Ownership of U.S.

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Staff to reach diverging views with applicants on the meaning of the term.

The NRC can approve foreign ownership --- opening up nuclear plants to Chinese investment infuses the American nuclear industry with cash and improves America’s nuclear competitiveness

 * Desai and Schroeder 16** [Sachin Desai is a law clerk for the Atomic Safety & Licensing Board Panel at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Kathleen Schroeder is an attorney with the Department of Energy General Counsel's Office for Civilian Nuclear Programs, “U.S. Nuclear Foreign Ownership Policy Ready for a Refreshed Interpretation,” Energy Law Journal Vol. 37, No. 1, 2016]

As the global energy economy becomes increasingly fluid, foreign ownership of U.S

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licensed facility remain in the hands of U.S. citizens ." n363

China says yes – they’re desperate to find any market for nuclear exports

 * Thomas 16** [Steve Thomas, professor of energy studies at the University of Greenwich, in London, “Why China’s Nuclear Exports May Struggle to Find a Market,” May 13, 2016, China File, https://www.chinafile.com/environment/why-chinas-nuclear-exports-may-struggle-find-market]

China’s nuclear power industry has eyed up a big push to export its technologies as

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be needed to fulfil its order book, must be in serious doubt.

====Chinese nuclear industry growth is the single greatest risk to global nonprolif --- inducing Chinese nuclear sector transparency and government-to-government information exchange ensures effective safety measures====


 * Bowen 13** [Wyn Q. Bowen, professor of nonproliferation and international security and the director of the Centre for Science and Security Studies in the Department of War Studies at King's College in London, his expertise is in nonproliferation, terrorism, and US security policy, from 1997 to 1998, he served as a weapons inspector on several missile teams in Iraq with the UN Special Commission; he has also worked as a consultant to the International Atomic Energy Agency, more recently, he was a specialist adviser to the House of Commons' Foreign Affairs Committee for inquiries into Britain's decision to enter the Iraq War, also written with Ian J. Stewart and Daniel Salisbury, “Engaging China in proliferation prevention,” //Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists//, October 29, 2013, http://thebulletin.org/engaging-china-proliferation-prevention]

__China continues to be the //key source of goods// and technology for the prohibited nuclear__

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waning, but //it could also undermine broader nonproliferation efforts around the world//.