In the United States, the Secretary of Energy said she wanted to reduce dependence on Russia for uranium.
A critical dependency
The United States depends on Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for half of the uranium that fuels its nuclear power plants. President Joe Biden’s administration has banned Russian oil imports since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. However, these restrictions do not apply to uranium imports.
In August, Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act. It contains $700 million for the supply of low-enriched uranium. In the United States, many reactors under development are planning to use them.
In addition, in March, the White House invokes the Defense Production Act. Dating from the Cold War, it supports the production and processing of essential minerals. Jennifer Granholm, the U.S. Secretary of Energy, states:
“The U.S. wants to be able to supply its own fuel, so we are developing a uranium strategy” . She added that “We will work to (…) improve it and make sure that we can fuel our own reactors as well as the partners of those who also have those ambitions.”
Additional grant
In September, Washington asked Congress for an additional $1.5 billion in funding. It would boost the national supply of uranium. Thus, this measure is part of a temporary government funding bill.
The U.S. Secretary of Energy announces that Washington is seeking a supplemental grant. The goal is to develop a more comprehensive strategy. This could happen by the end of the year.
The Ministry of Energy has reserves of highly enriched uranium, from which it can reduce fuel for reactors. Some nuclear energy advocates also want to boost uranium mining and processing in the United States. However, these are practices that many environmentalists want to limit.
