Jennifer Hiller
WSJ, Mar. 22, 2022
“The U.S. has met Russia’s assault on Ukraine with economic penalties targeting Russia’s financial sector and a ban on oil imports into the U.S., but so far, uranium has avoided sanctions. The U.S. relied on Russia and its allies Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for about 46% of its needs in 2020, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shaken the global market for uranium, a critical fuel for nuclear-power plants, prompting some in the U.S. to propose reviving domestic production.
Russia enriches more uranium for use in nuclear plants than any other country in the world. Its increasing economic isolation following its attack on Ukraine—and talk of potential added sanctions on Russian uranium—have exposed the fragility of global nuclear-fuel supplies, which are controlled by a handful of countries.
The war in Ukraine is complicating the Biden administration’s update of the U.S. defense strategy, as White House weighs the growing threat from China and what it sees as the “acute” threat posed by Russia. WSJ national security reporter Gordon Lubold tells WSJ What’s News host Luke Vargas how Pentagon planners intend to rank those challenges, and why an increase in U.S. military spending may be in the cards. Read Transcript
Appeared in the March 23, 2022, print edition as ‘U.S. Rethinks Uranium Supply for Nuclear Plants.’
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