Russia remains top supplier of nuclear fuel to US despite sanctions - Bloomberg
US buys nuclear fuel from Russia (Illustrative photo: flickr by Tobin)
Russia remained the largest supplier of fuel for nuclear reactors in the United States last year. This situation persists even after the law banning the import of enriched uranium from Russia was enacted, according to a report by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), as reported by Bloomberg.
According to the report, Russia supplied 20% of the enriched uranium for commercial reactors in the United States in 2024. For comparison, in 2023 this figure was nearly 27%.
Imports continued even after the ban was introduced in August 2024 in connection with the war in Ukraine. The law allows the Department of Energy to issue temporary exemptions until 2028 if there are no alternative sources or if the imports are important for national interests. Such permits were granted, in particular, to Constellation Energy Corp. and Centrus Energy Corp.
These figures were published against the backdrop of calls by the Trump administration for Europe and other countries to reduce their dependence on Russian energy resources. Congress had earlier allocated billions of dollars to restore US domestic production of fuel for reactors, and the Department of Energy will soon begin distributing these funds.
Ban on uranium imports from Russia
In May of last year, then-US President Joe Biden signed a law banning the import of Russian enriched uranium.
Such measures were taken as the United States sought to block supplies of Russian fuel for reactors.
More details on why the United States continues to buy nuclear fuel from Russia can be found in the material by RBC-Ukraine.
