US nuclear industry struggling to get replacement for Russian enriched uranium
Russia has long been a monopoly on HALEU—something that has concerned Washington for several years.
With the US increasingly becoming dependent on nuclear power in the wake of the energy crisis sparked by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, American firms have been focusing on developing small nuclear reactors, as it is being viewed as a clean source of power.
But even before these firms could begin work on it, they have already encountered a major stumbling blog. Apparently, only one company sells the high assay low enriched uranium (HALEU), and it's a Russian.
The potential producers have said that a delay in securing HALEU supplies could impact the commercial supply chains even as it struggles to find a replacement to Russian uranium.
Russia has long been a monopoly on HALEU—something that has concerned Washington for several years.Currently,only TENEX, which is part of the Russian state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom, sells the fuel commercially at the moment.
But in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the US government and companies have become hesitant to rely on Moscow for their supply needs.
Responding to the matter, a US Department of Energy spokesperson told Reuters news agency that the government has already started looking for alternative suppliers.
"Production of HALEU is a critical mission and all efforts to increase its production are being evaluated," the spokesperson said.
The Biden administration is in the final stages of evaluating how much of its inventory of 585.6 tonnes of highly enriched uranium to allocate to reactors, the spokesperson said.
"We understand the need for urgent action to incentivize the establishment of a sustainable, market-driven supply of HALEU," the spokesperson added.
HALEU is enriched to levels of up to 20 per cent rather than around 5 per cent for the uranium that powers most nuclear plants.
(With inputs from agencies)
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