The U.S President, Jor Biden, has signed the “Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act,” which prohibits the importation of unirradiated, low-enriched uranium produced in the Russian Federation or by a Russian entity.
Currently, Russia supplies approximately 20% of the U.S.’s nuclear fuel. This fuel is produced by TVEL, the fuel division of the Russian Rosatom state corporation.
TVEL provides fuel for more than 70 power reactors in 15 countries, research reactors in nine countries and propulsion reactors of the Russian nuclear fleet. Every sixth power reactor in the world is fueled by TVEL. Rosatom’s annual exports exceed $1 billion.
For the past several years, the U.S and U.K have been trying to phase out Russian nuclear fuel, and in May 2024, the U.K government announced plans to build a new high-tech nuclear plant to help isolate Russia from the global energy market.
The UK government invested £196 million in the Urenco Company to build a uranium enrichment facility, which will produce fuel by 2031. This fuel will be ready for export or domestic use.
“Russia has been the sole provider of this powerful nuclear fuel for too long and this marks the latest step in pushing him out of the energy market entirely,” said Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak.
