US suspects China may supply Russian uranium despite sanctions – Reuters
Illustrative photo: The United States suspects that China may be supplying Russian uranium to circumvent sanctions (Getty Images)
The United States has observed a sharp increase in enriched uranium imports from China since the end of 2023. US officials suspect that China helps Russia circumvent sanctions, according to Reuters.
As Reuters reports, at the end of last year, the US implemented a ban on Russian enriched uranium. Around the same time, China sent 242,990 kilograms of enriched uranium to the US. This marks a significant increase compared to previous years, as China did not export any enriched uranium to the US from 2020 to 2022.
In May this year, after President Biden signed the ban, China once again sent a large shipment of uranium—this time 123,894 kilograms.
As a result, the US Department of Energy is closely monitoring imports from China to ensure proper enforcement of the newly enacted law banning the import of Russian uranium.
At the same time, US officials are watching imports from China and other countries to "ensure they are not importing Russian uranium as part of a scheme to export material produced domestically that they would otherwise have used in their own reactors".
According to Reuters, China may be aiming to take on a larger role in global enriched uranium markets and could be using Russian enriched uranium to achieve this.
Background
In December of last year, the US House of Representatives approved a bill to cut off imports from Russia following its large-scale military aggression against Ukraine.
Specifically, the US Senate unanimously voted to pass the bill banning the import of enriched uranium from Russia. The document was then sent to President Biden for his signature.
