The U.S. Senate has approved a bill that would ban the import of russian-made enriched uranium until 2040. President Joe Biden is expected to sign it today or in the coming days, Bloomberg reports.
The bill approved by U.S. senators will ban the supply of fuel for nuclear reactors 90 days after it takes effect.
At the same time, the draft law contains a number of temporary exceptions that will be valid until 2028.
The agency notes that the Biden administration previously called for a long-term ban on the import of russian uranium, which is necessary to unlock nearly USD 3 billion for the creation of the American uranium industry.
Congress previously allocated these funds, but their use will be possible only after the introduction of restrictions on the import of uranium from russia.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, russia accounts for a quarter of all supplies of enriched uranium used in nearly 100 commercial U.S. nuclear reactors. This makes the russian Federation the number one foreign supplier.
Sales of nuclear fuel bring russia about USD 1 billion a year.
As Jonathan Hinze, the president of UxC, a nuclear fuel market research company, told Bloomberg in a comment, the replacement of russian uranium could lead to an increase in the cost of nuclear fuel by about 20%.
Currently, a separation work unit (SWU), in which the cost of producing substances is measured, costs USD 165. The restrictions could push the price up to a record USD 200 per SWU.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, at the beginning of April, the cargo ship Atlantic Navigator II was detained in the German port of Rostock, which was carrying russian enriched uranium.
The British company Urenco began supplying enriched uranium to Ukrainian nuclear power plants.
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