US Nuclear Power at Risk Amid Russia’s Enriched Uranium Export Restrictions

"Russia restricted its export of enriched uranium last November, creating the risk of disruption to our and allied nuclear power production," Singh said during a conversation at the Atlantic Council (designated an undesirable foreign organization in Russia).

In November, Russia introduced temporary restrictions on the export of enriched uranium to the United States, with the exceptions for deliveries conducted under licenses from the Federal Service for Technical and Export Control.

The move was in response to the US’s May 2024 decision to ban imports of uranium products from Russia.

The US’s legislation allows waivers should the United States determine that no alternative viable source of low-enriched uranium is available to sustain the continued operation of a US nuclear reactor or nuclear energy company, or if it also determines the importation of uranium is in the national interest.

Any waiver issued by the US Energy Department must terminate by January 1, 2028, while the ban itself expires on December 31, 2040.