The US Senate unanimously passed a law banning the import of enriched uranium from Russia into the country, Reuters reports. The House of Representatives approved it in December 2023. Now the law must be signed by American President Joe Biden. Imports will cease 90 days after the document enters into force.
Enriched uranium is used as fuel for nuclear power plants in the USA. In 2022, US nuclear power plants imported about 12% of their enriched uranium from Russia, according to the US Energy Information Administration, cited by Reuters. Bloomberg writes that Russia supplied almost a quarter of the uranium for more than 90 reactors of American nuclear power plants and earned about one billion dollars a year from this.
The legislation passed by the Senate will unlock nearly $2.7 billion to support the American uranium industry. Congress allocated this money subject to restrictions on the import of Russian uranium.
In October, the White House called for a “long-term ban” on uranium supplies from Russia. “This is a national security priority because dependence on Russian uranium sources poses a risk to the US economy and the civilian nuclear industry. Without such actions, Russia will continue to control the global uranium market to the detriment of US allies and partners,” the US presidential administration said in a statement.
After the document comes into force, the import of uranium from Russia will be prohibited until the end of 2040. At the same time, the law provides for a temporary bypass of the ban until the beginning of 2028. Until this moment, the US Department of Energy will be able to authorize the import of Russian uranium in agreement with the Secretary of State and the Minister of Finance of the country.