SPECIAL REPORT | RESPONDING TO RUSSIAN FUEL BAN
Reflections on the Russian LEU ban
In the wake of the Biden administration’s recent ban on US imports of Russian low-enriched uranium, NEI spoke with companies across the nuclear fuel cycle to find out how the ban has affected their current plans and outlook for the future
By Tildy Bayar
ON 30 APRIL, THE US Senate passed the Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act (HR 1042). On 13 May, President Biden signed it into law. The Act will come into force 90 days after its signing and will be effective until the end of 2040. The Act bans import into the US of “unirradiated low- enriched uranium – uranium that has not been in a reactor – that is produced in Russia or by a Russian entity” as well as “unirradiated low-enriched uranium that has been swapped for the banned uranium or otherwise obtained in a manner designed to circumvent the ban’s restrictions.” Waivers allowing some Russian uranium imports will be
available until January 2028. The US Department of Energy (DOE) says a waiver will be granted if “(1) no alternative viable source of low-enriched uranium is available to sustain the continued operation of a nuclear reactor or a US nuclear energy company, or (2) importation of the uranium is in the national interest.” The ban follows various restrictive measures involving the US energy sector in response to Russia’s full-scale
invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but previous attempts to include the nuclear sector, such as March 2022’s S.3856 – a bill to prohibit the importation of uranium from the Russian Federation – failed to develop legs. It is well understood that this slow response has largely been driven by heavy US dependence on Russian uranium and enrichment services. As one industry insider said, the US is “totally addicted to Russian uranium, and it’s almost impossible for it to become un-addicted.” As the House Committee Report for the Act acknowledges, Russian state-owned nuclear company Rosatom and its subsidiary Tenex supply over 20% of the enriched uranium used in US reactors. But as the war in Ukraine drags on, the West has seen a booming Russian nuclear sector and even its expansion into new markets – and US momentum for banning Russian nuclear-related imports has grown apace. In addition to low-enriched uranium (LEU, enriched up
to 5% uranium-235) which largely fuels the world’s current light water reactor fleet, also at issue is high-assay low- enriched uranium (HALEU), enriched to over 5% and up to
Above: Tenex enrichment services will be denied access to the US market after 2028 16 | June 2024 |
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