WASHINGTON, Sept 17 (Askume) – President Joe Biden’s administration is examining increasing imports of enriched uranium from China from the end of 2023, Askume has learned, saying the shipments could help Moscow circumvent a U.S. ban on imports of nuclear power plants. Russia. fuel sanctions.
Members of the US House of Representatives voted to ban Russia’s uranium enrichment in December 2023 as part of the US ability to stop President Vladimir Putin’s funding of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Enriched uranium shipments from China to the United States rose to 242,990 kilograms (535,700 pounds) that month, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission. The imports are significant because China has not shipped any enriched uranium to the United States from 2020 to 2022
In May, the same month that Biden signed the ban , China again shipped large amounts of uranium to the United States — this time a total of 123,894 kilograms (273,139 pounds).
A US Department of Energy spokesperson said that the US Department of Energy “and other relevant agencies are closely monitoring imports from China to ensure that the recently enacted bill banning Russian uranium imports is appropriately implemented,” a development that has never been reported before.
The spokesperson said US officials are monitoring imports from China and other countries “to ensure they are not importing Russian uranium as part of a plan to export domestically produced material that they would otherwise use in their own reactors.”
China’s foreign ministry in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Russia is the world’s largest exporter of enriched uranium. As of July this year, US imports from Russia were 313,050 kilograms (690,160 pounds), down 30% from last year. The ban allows some Russian imports to continue until 2028 if there are supply problems.
Any attempt to circumvent the ban could ultimately undermine US efforts to eliminate dependence on Russian fuel for the world’s largest nuclear power industry. It could also undermine the Biden administration’s efforts to boost the domestic uranium supply chain , as the ban would save $2.72 billion in public money needed to achieve that goal.
Data released by the World Bank shows that China’s imports of Russian enriched uranium will rise in 2022 and 2023. Analysts say that while China is building more reactors that need a steady supply of uranium, Russian supplies could also help it export the fuel.
“As China seeks to play a bigger role in the world’s enriched uranium market, increasing imports of Russian enriched uranium could help realize Beijing’s ambitions,” said a March report by the London-based Royal United Services Institute think tank.
“Playing with the ban”
Imports from China are causing concern for the U.S. uranium industry. In June, Centrus, a company developing uranium enrichment capacity, urged the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) in public comments to raise tariffs on enriched uranium from China from 7.5% to 20%, saying the tariffs could “threaten the company’s own efforts to import enriched uranium from China.”
In public comments, an industry group of US uranium producers urged the US Trade Representative to raise the tax rate to 50%.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, which last week finalized tariff hikes on some other goods but not on uranium from China, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
UPA lawyer John Indahl said his group met with the US Commerce Department in July over concerns that uranium imports from China were an attempt to circumvent Russia’s uranium embargo.
“Our concern is about taking advantage of the ban,” Indel said.
“We are concerned that China will circumvent the ban,” Indel said. “We ask the Commerce Department to investigate this.”
The Commerce Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Russian state nuclear energy company Rosatom did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In May, Rosatom said the ban would hurt the global market for enriched uranium but the company would continue to develop its global business .
Moscow was publicly silent on the ban until September 11, when Putin said Moscow should consider limiting exports of uranium and other metals in retaliation for Western sanctions .
