U.S. Senators: Proposes Bill To Ban Russian Uranium Imports Into The U.S.

Senators from the Republican Party introduced a bill on Russian uranium imports on Thursday as a punitive measure against Moscow for its attack on Ukraine.

As of right now, uranium is not included in the restriction on Russian oil and liquefied natural gas imports imposed by Biden’s administration.

“While banning imports of Russian oil, gas and coal is an important step, it cannot be the last,” said the person in charge of introducing the bill, Senator John Barrasso. He represents the state of Wyoming, which could potentially benefit from uranium mining in the U.S.

“Banning Russian uranium imports will further defund Russia’s war machine, help revive American uranium production, and increase our national security,” added Barrasso.

The United States has more nuclear reactors than any other country, however, it significantly relies on imported uranium. A total of 16 % of the country’s uranium acquisitions came from Russia in 2020, according to the EIA, with 22% coming from Canada and Kazakhstan.

HALEU, or high-assay, low-enriched uranium, is also supplied by Russia and could be utilized in nuclear reactors scheduled to be built later this decade or in the future.

This means that the United States would have to quickly expand its domestic production in order to supply HALEU in the event of an import ban.

Original source material for this article taken from here