China unveils nuclear submarines, rumored to buy U.S. Navy nuclear fuel supplier

As China's Navy celebrates their 60th Anniversary with the unveiling of nuclear submarines, there is speculation that a Chinese "government controlled entity" may be on the verge of purchasing the U.S. Navy's only supplier of nuclear fuel and assemblies. A post on the U.S. Naval Insitute blog speculates:

If the rumors are true, PetroChina, a Chinese “Government Controlled Entity”, is on the verge of buying McDermott International, a company that, as I understand things, is the U.S. Navy’s sole provider of nuclear fuel and nuclear fuel assemblies.

McDermott, a Panama “based” corporate tax-avoider, also manages the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve along with a lot of other critical national defense infrastructure.
http://blog.usni.org/?p=2352

China National News reports a show of China's rapidly growing but "purely defense" Naval presence.

China to display its nuke submarines for first time
China National News
Tuesday 21st April, 2009
(ANI)

New Delhi, Apr 21 : China will display its nuclear-powered submarines for the first time in history during a fleet parade to mark the 60th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army Navy.

The Chinese navy's missile destroyer 115 Shenyang is docked at Qingdao Port for an international fleet review.

Deputy Commander of the PLA Navy Ding Yiping did not disclose any further details about the submarines.

In addition to the fleet parade, there will also be seminars and a sampan race that will be held off the coast of the eastern city of Qingdao during the four-day celebration.

"It is not a secret that China has nuclear submarines, which are key to safeguarding our country's national security," Xinhua quoted Ding, as saying.

Ding stressed that China's national defense policy and nuclear strategy is purely defensive in nature, and that the country's naval forces would not pose any threat to other countries.

"The PLA Navy will continue to make contributions to maintain world, regional and maritime peace," he said.

The fleet parade will strive to be grand, practical, safe and frugal, the officer added. The parade would be grand as it was unprecedented in terms of the celebration scale.

Dozens of Chinese naval ships and planes and 21 naval vessels from 14 countries will participate in the fleet review, Ding said.

He said it is the first time for the country to have a fleet parade participated by high-level naval delegations from 29 countries.

The whole celebration will feature the concept of practicality. All activities must have an actual effect rather than just being aesthetic and pompous.

http://story.chinanationalnews.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/9366300fc9319e9b/id/492282/cs/1/