nuclear-news

The West has big plans for nuclear power: Will geopolitics play ball?

According to data from the US government, Russia holds roughly 44% of the
world’s uranium enrichment capacity. In terms of US demand for enriched
uranium, Russia accounted for 27% of this total (SWU) in 2023. To turn to
data from Euratom, Russia provided 37.9% of the total enrichment work to
supply EU utilities in the same year.

Faced with this dependency on Moscow,
former US president Joe Biden brought in a law banning uranium imports from
Russia in mid-2024. The legislation allowed some shipments to continue
until the end of 2027, although Russia then hit back with its own measures
— placing a temporary ban on these exports to the US.

“The US and Europe can quite quickly bring on new conversion facilities, but enrichment
will be more difficult,” Benjamin Godwin, head of analysis at PRISM, told
Euronews. “Inconsistency in policymaking in both the US and EU does make
it difficult for companies to commit to such capital-intensive projects,
but, as the Trump administration beds in, there is hope that industry will
be given a clearer signal on this,” he added.

One issue, experts claim,
is that both power plant operators and fuel suppliers are hesitant to be
the first to commit to future projects. Those producing nuclear power don’t
want to sign up to long-term supply deals unless they know uranium
processing facilities are being built. On the other hand, processors are
reluctant to expand unless they have agreements from buyers.

Euro News 5th April 2025, https://www.euronews.com/business/2025/04/05/the-west-has-big-plans-for-nuclear-power-will-geopolitics-play-ball

April 7, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics international, Uranium