China Academy of Engineering Physics

China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP) (Chinese: 中国工程物理研究院, nicknamed 九院) was founded in October 1958. The CAEP is China's main organization conducting the research, development, and testing of nuclear weapons and related science.

History

CAEP was formerly called the Ninth Institute or Ninth Academy of the Second Ministry of Machine Industry. The research group was initially located in Beijing. Major components of its nuclear program were relocated to Qinghai Province in the 1950s. After China's first nuclear test in 1964, the institute and its activities (nuclear weapons research, development, and production) were moved to Sichuan Province to avoid detection by foreign powers. It was renamed the China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP) in the 1980s.{{cite book|title=China Builds the Bomb (Studies in Intl Security and Arm Control)|author=Lewis, John W.|date=August 1, 1988|isbn=978-0804718417}}{{cite book|title=The China Threat: How the People's Republic Targets America|author=Goertz, Bill|date=February 5, 2013|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1621571155}}{{cite web|url=http://www.caep.cn/zjzwy/index.shtml|title=中国工程物理研究院 (China Academy of Engineering Physics website|access-date=2018-01-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171125173620/http://www.caep.cn/zjzwy/index.shtml|archive-date=2017-11-25|url-status=live}}

Organization

The CAEP headquarters, since the 1980s, is in the 839 area of Mianyang and covers a land area of 5 km2. It is also nicknamed Scientific Town. It has multiple outlets located in Beijing, Jiangyou, Mianyang, Chengdu, and Shanghai.

Since the 1990s, the CAEP has included 12 research institutes and 15 national key laboratories. Its research areas include theoretical physics, plasma physics, engineering and material sciences, electronics and photo-electronics, materials chemistry and chemical engineering, computer science, and computational mathematics. Most of the names of the research organizations in the Mianyang area include "Southwest Institute" in their titles because they are located in the southwest part of China.

As of 2017, the CAEP staff has included as many as 23,000 scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and technicians.{{cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.caep.cn/ |website=caep.cn}}

= Controversies =

CAEP and some of its related institutes and companies has been on the United States Department of Commerce's Entity List since 1997.{{Cite web |last1=Lin |first1=Liza |last2=Strumpf |first2=Dan |date=January 29, 2023 |title=China's Top Nuclear-Weapons Lab Used American Computer Chips Decades After Ban |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-top-nuclear-weapons-lab-used-american-computer-chips-decades-after-ban-11674990320 |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=The Wall Street Journal |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2020-06-05 |title=Addition of Entities to the Entity List, Revision of Certain Entries on the Entity List |url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/06/05/2020-10869/addition-of-entities-to-the-entity-list-revision-of-certain-entries-on-the-entity-list#page-34497 |access-date=2024-11-14 |website=Federal Register |language=en}}

CAEP Institutes

The institutes of the CAEP include:selected publications

  • Graduate School, Beijing
  • Southwest Computer Center
  • Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics, Beijing
  • Southwest Institute of Chemical Materials, China{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/nuke/guide/china/facility/mianyang.htm|title=Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics|website=FAS.org|accessdate=June 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224192333/https://fas.org/nuke/guide/china/facility/mianyang.htm|archive-date=February 24, 2020|url-status=live}}
  • Southwest Institute of Environmental Testing
  • Southwest Institute of Electronic Engineering
  • Southwest Institute of Explosives and Chemical Engineering
  • Southwest Institute of Fluid Physics, China{{cite web|url=https://www.nti.org/learn/facilities/702/|title=Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics|website=NTI.org|accessdate=June 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190624134503/https://www.nti.org/learn/facilities/702/|archive-date=June 24, 2019|url-status=live}}
  • Southwest Institute of Environmental Testing
  • Southwest Institute of Nuclear Physics and Chemistry, Mianyang 621900, Sichuan Province
  • Southwest Institute of Structural Mechanics, Mianyang 621900, Sichuan Province
  • Institute of Systems Engineering, Mianyang 6219000, Sichuan Province
  • Terahertz Research Center, Mianyang, Sichuan Province
  • Research Center of Laser Fusion, Mianyang, Sichuan Province

See also

References