US nuclear industry anticipates 2024 ban on Russian uranium imports

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Financial Times
11 Feb 2024 22:47
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Despite initial reluctance from the White House, a bipartisan bill passed by the House of Representatives in December seeks to halt Russian imports until 2040, although it awaits action in the Senate.

A truck carries containers with low-enriched uranium to be used as fuel for nuclear reactors, on a port in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2013 (AP)

The Financial Times on Sunday reported that the US nuclear industry is expecting the Biden administration to enforce a ban on imports of enriched uranium from Russia in 2024.

Initially, the White House did not endorse a ban on Russian uranium for fueling US power plants. But after two years of stockpiling, a bipartisan bill in December was passed by the House of Representatives aiming to cease Russian imports until 2040. Despite this, the bill is currently at a standstill in the Senate.

According to the report, the ban is expected to be implemented at some point this year.

Western industries to reap benefits from ban

Boris Schucht, CEO of Urenco, a major western supplier of enriched uranium for US nuclear plants, told FT that his company could replace Russian supplies if the US enacts a proposed ban on uranium imports from Russia.

He added that a ban on Russian imports could further benefit France's Orano, and US-based Centrus, all of which have been facing challenges competing with Russia's Rosatom.

With Russia controlling nearly half of global uranium enrichment capacity, concerns over energy security have recently been on the rise among Western nations, compelling initiatives to bolster domestic uranium production in the US, UK, and other countries.

As of now, Russia holds nearly half of the worldwide uranium enrichment capacity. According to official figures, the US in 2023 imported enriched uranium worth $1.2 billion from Russia, marking an unprecedented high.

Russia, China competing 'aggressively' with the West

Elsewhere in his comments, Schucht said that Russia and China are aggressively competing with the West in the nuclear industry, noting that the two global powers achieved considerable strides in technology export and overseas plant construction.

He added that while the private industry in the West remains on par with Moscow and Beijing in terms of designing new technologies, it has suffered some setbacks in the construction of nuclear power plants.

"[Western nations] had a lot of suppliers in the nuclear sector that went bankrupt in the last 20 years so we lost in the Western world certain capabilities and we are already in the process of building them up again," he said.

He further described Western competition with Russia as very strange because Russia is allowed to sell nuclear fuel at prices below its production cost, giving it an unfair advantage in the market.

"[Western companies] were never allowed to sell any material to Russia, so that’s a very strange situation. And we could see that they were offering products in the Western world on price levels, that were below their cost base. The US has well understood that this is not fair competition."