According to official data from the Department of Energy, the United States plans to find new uranium suppliers to supply future nuclear reactors and exclude the Russian Federation as a supplier.
For this purpose, contracts will be concluded for the purchase of HALEU uranium enriched to 20%, writes RuNews24.ru. The figure exceeds that of conventional uranium fuel, which typically contains about 5% enrichment. An amount of $500 million has been allocated for this program, which may be increased in the future. According to a representative of the US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, government costs for importing uranium from the Russian Federation amount to approximately $1 billion per year.
Last month, the House of Representatives expressed support for a bill that would limit the import of low-enriched uranium from the Russian Federation, but the Senate rejected a similar initiative. According to a Bloomberg report, Russia was responsible for 16.5% of the uranium supply and approximately 23% of the enriched uranium for nuclear reactors in the United States in 2020. The Ministry of Energy expressed concern about such dependence on exports from the Russian Federation and considered this a vulnerability factor for the country’s security.
Data from the United States Energy Information Administration shows that in 2022, about 12% of uranium for US nuclear power plants was imported from Russia. At the same time, Kazakhstan and Canada were the main suppliers. They provided 25% and 27% of the volume, respectively.
Bloomberg previously reported that it might be prohibited to import uranium from the Russian Federation to the United States, but this statement was refuted by Tenex, which confirmed its readiness to fulfill all contracts. Because of this, some experts have expressed concerns about the growing dependence on HALEU. This fuel is considered more suitable for nuclear weapons than conventional fuel. This factor raises concerns about the proliferation of this type of weapon.
Source: Rosbalt
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