The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi while briefing European Union foreign ministers on Iran’s program to enrich uranium, was asked the question of the day: What about possible sanctions against Russia’s nuclear industry? According to Reuters, he responded: “Many companies in the West depend on Russian supplies—enriched uranium or fuel. The consensus is [that] sanctioning Rosatom would not be realistic and it’s impractical. It would put the nuclear industry at a standstill in many countries.” In fact, even attempting to “reduce dependence” on Russian nuclear fuel would primarily cost the EU.
Grossi also broke the news to them: “Frankly, I see an increased presence of Russian uranium enrichment capabilities in the world rather than a decrease.” Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy giant, Rosatom, owns nearly 50% of uranium enrichment infrastructure in the world, and it accounted for almost 36% of the world’s exports in 2022. Almost 20% of the US’s nuclear fuel is from Russia.
