Faced with US energy sanctions after its invasion of Ukraine, Russia still continues to sell an important resource to the USA. President Biden’s ban on imports of Russian oil and other energy products aroused curiosity by not including uranium, the heart of nuclear power plants.
Although the US has closed the door to a major trade partnership with Russia, the US energy industry still buys uranium from Russia. Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are the three biggest partners of US companies in uranium. The energy giants are in close contact with the White House to ensure that the uranium supply is not cut off.
Could Russia finance the war by selling uranium to the USA?
Russian President Putin founded the State Nuclear Power Company (Rosatom) in 2007, and the company currently produces about 20 percent of the world’s nuclear fuel. In addition, Russia, which seized two nuclear power plant areas in Ukraine with the war, created an important income source through uranium, just like fossil fuels.
Although there is no uranium production or processing in the United States, several companies have said they want to continue production in several states if nuclear power activities are long-term. However, from the Ukrainian side, claims that the USA “financed the war” with uranium imports started to come.
Kostiantyn Krynytskyi, Head of the Energy Department of the Ukrainian environmental organization Ekodia, said that the uranium deal was “irritating”.
“The whole country and the whole world started to tremble with fear, thinking about what would happen with nuclear power plants in Ukraine. You need to see what can happen here and phase it out.”
The National Energy Institute (NEI), the trade group consisting of energy producers of the USA, stated that they will support the uranium industry in the USA.
The element Uranium is actually a common metal found in various parts of the world. However, according to the latest report of the World Nuclear Association, 85% of the world’s uranium needs are met by six countries (Russia, Kazakhstan, Canada, Australia, Namibia and Niger).
What do you think about the uranium trade between the USA and Russia? You can express your thoughts in the comments section or on the SDN Forum.
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