Russia restricts uranium exports to US
The Russian government has announced a temporary cap on the export of enriched uranium to the US. The move is in response to a ban by Washington on purchases of the Russian nuclear fuel.
According to a document published online by the Russian government on Friday, the measure also concerns exports under foreign trade agreements with persons registered within US jurisdiction. An exception was made for supplies under one-time licenses issued by the Federal Service for Technical and Export Control.
The decision was made on instructions from the Russian president, the document said.
In September, Vladimir Putin suggested limiting exports of certain strategically important raw materials, including uranium, to the global market in response to Western attempts to block Russia’s access to certain foreign-made goods. Putin then told a government meeting that despite Western restrictions, Russia continues to supply some types of goods to the world market “in large quantities” and in some cases buyers are happily stockpiling Russian products.
In May, US President Joe Biden signed a bill banning imports of Russian enriched uranium, despite warnings that the move could backfire on the American economy. Still, the law allowed for shipments to continue under a system of waivers. The US Department of Energy has been allowed to issue waivers until 2028 in cases where there is no alternative to Russian low-enriched uranium or if the shipments are in the national interest. The ban also provides some $2.7 billion in federal funding to build new enrichment capacity in America to boost its civilian nuclear industry.
Russia provided almost a quarter of the enriched uranium that fueled US commercial nuclear reactors in 2022, making it America’s top foreign supplier of the fuel that year, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
While the US has its own deposits of uranium, they are not sufficient to satisfy demand. Meanwhile, Russia hosts the world’s largest uranium enrichment complex, accounting for almost half of global capacity. The fuel is critical for both civil nuclear power generation and military nuclear weapons.
Russia’s share of the enriched uranium market is estimated to be around 40%, with an export value of $2.7 billion.
Uranium prices jumped on Friday following the news of Russian export restrictions, with bids for November 2025 delivery rising by $4 to $84 a pound, according to market research firm UxC.
“There would be some utilities maybe that would be expecting that material and now might not get it,” the president of UxC, Jonathan Hinze, told Bloomberg. While most deliveries have already been made this year, the ban could start to hurt in 2025, leaving some without an alternative supplier, he said.
