The West’s dependence on Russian gas and oil is well known. However, Putin also controls the production of an important fuel for nuclear power plants.
Washington DC – The US has the most nuclear power plants in the world, but nuclear power is also in decline in the United States. In the face of the Ukraine war and climate change, Washington is trying to reduce its dependence on energy from Russia. But there is a problem: there is only one manufacturer worldwide for the concentrated uranium that modern nuclear power plants (nuclear power plants) need – and that is, of all things, a Russian state-owned company. Now the US seems to have a plan B.
Russia: State-owned company has global monopoly on concentrated uranium enrichment
At the dawn of the nuclear age, the US mined its own uranium. Since the 1980s, however, hardly any new nuclear power plants have been added in the United States – also due to concerns about safety and the disposal of nuclear waste. Interest in nuclear energy has recently been boosted again, because in times of the climate crisis, this low-CO₂ energy source is enjoying greater popularity again. In addition to the USA, France, for example, continues to rely on nuclear power and criticizes Germany’s abandonment of the technology. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the USA signed a contract with Russia for the supply of uranium in the 1990s and domestic production fell rapidly. Currently, the US produces only about five percent of its own needs.
Over the past few decades, a dependency on Moscow has developed that is now causing problems for Washington. Today, the Russian state-owned company Rosatom has a monopoly on the production of concentrated uranium, which modern nuclear power plants need. US companies are currently trying to bring new types of reactors onto the market, such as Huffington Post and the news agency Reuters reported. Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress appear willing to accelerate this effort. An investment company owned by Sam Altman, the head of the US company Open AI, which became known through the artificial intelligence ChatGPT, also plays an important role.
Despite the “chicken and egg problem”: the USA have a plan B for nuclear power
The fuel called Haleu is an abbreviation for “high assay low enriched uranium” and refers to uranium that is enriched to values of up to 20 percent. Conventional nuclear vehicles run on about 5 percent uranium. If the Haleu isn’t available, developers fear it could deter investment in new nuclear power plants. And without the investment in the new nuclear power plants, potential producers of the fuel are unlikely to set up commercial supply chains to replace Russia’s uranium, the report said Reuters. A classic “chicken and egg problem”.
The new generation of nuclear reactors in the US are smaller, more efficient and cheaper, but still dependent on uranium supplies from Russia. So far at least. Things got moving at the beginning of the week: The US nuclear fuel manufacturer Centrus Energy announced on Monday (August 28) that it wanted to supply the nuclear power plant in California with Haleu Huffington Post reported. Companies such as Oklo are involved in the new reactor technology, as is the company TerraPower, which is supported by Bill Gates, and the US group X-energy. They all want to make the new generation of nuclear vehicles marketable in the coming years.
New nuclear power plants: Private and state investments boost production of the new nuclear fuel
The fact that this goal is now within reach is also due to larger investments from the private sector. Working with private company Centrus is a “far-reaching, groundbreaking partnership” and a game changer for nuclear power in the US, said Oklo CEO Jacob DeWitte. In addition, it is a sign that the private market is warming up to a technology that many banks still do not want to finance, the company boss continued. About a month ago, the investment company AltC Acquisition Corp of ChatGPT inventor Sam Altman merged with Oklo. “This partnership is an important step in reducing energy costs by building critical fuel supply infrastructure in the United States,” Altman said in a statement.
TerraPower also announced a collaboration with Centrus for Haleu production. In addition, as part of the new climate law, the US government invested 700 million US dollars in the domestic production of Haleu. Bills in the US Senate and House of Representatives are being proposed by Democrats and Republicans for fuel enrichment. As soon as there is demand for Haleu, it could happen quickly, believes Centrus Group Vice President Dan Leistikow Huffington Post reported. It would take around three and a half years to put enough centrifuges into operation to produce six tons of Haleu per year. Thereafter, production capacity will double every six months, provided the appropriate investments are made.
Around 40 percent of Europe’s uranium requirements come from Russia
Western sanctions aim to drain Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war coffers. While the dependence on Russian natural gas and oil was publicly discussed, the supply of Russian uranium went largely unnoticed. Before the war, Europe got about 40 percent of its uranium needs from Russia and its close ally Kazakhstan, according to data from the European Atomic Energy Community Euratom.
Since then, the dependency has hardly decreased. Germany has also continued to receive uranium supplies from Russia since the beginning of the Ukraine war. In September last year, some enriched uranium hexafluoride went to Lingen in Emsland, Lower Saxony. In mid-April of this year, Germany then shut down its last three nuclear power plants. However, Germany’s dependence on Putin’s help did not quite end there: the state-owned company Rosatom plays a role in the dismantling of nuclear power plants and the storage of radioactive waste from Germany.
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