It was announced on Nov. 15 that the Russian government, at the suggestion of the Russian President, will be placing a temporary cap on the export of enriched uranium to the U.S.
This comes in response to a U.S. Act in May 2024, H.R. 1042, the Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act, that President Biden signed into law on May 13, 2024, which declares “continued reliance on Russian uranium products a threat to U.S. energy and economic security through dependence on an insecure source or supply of uranium needed for domestic nuclear energy.” The act bans their import into the U.S. until 2040, though with a system of waivers in place until 2028, since the U.S. domestic supply of uranium is not enough to meet the needs of the commercial nuclear industry, which supplies roughly 19% of U.S. power, and depended on Russia for nearly a quarter of its enriched uranium in 2022.
Jonathan Hinze, nuclear fuel cycle expert with UxC, told Bloomberg, “There would be some utilities maybe that would be expecting that material and now might not get it.” He said that the Russian ban could start to hurt U.S. utilities in 2025.
