- The US depends on Russia for 24% of its enriched uranium, a key ingredient for nuclear fuel.
- Russia has used energy as a weapon before, so the US is working to revive domestic production to reduce the risk of a fuel shortage.
- The US lacks the capacity to produce its own nuclear fuel and relies on other countries for three of the four main processes.
- US companies are ramping up capacity to reshore the supply chain, such as Energy Fuels restarting a uranium mine in Utah and planning to restart a uranium mill.
- Centris Energy launched the only US-owned uranium enrichment plant, providing an opportunity for the US to become a global leader in advanced reactors.
- Federal support and investment are crucial for building up domestic capability and infrastructure.
- The Biden administration has proposed investing $2 billion to improve long-term domestic enrichment capabilities.
- Legislation is being pushed to ban US use of Russian uranium.
- Reestablishing capabilities in the US will take time and investment to meet current and future fuel demands.

U.S. nuclear power plants got about 24% of their enriched uranium from Russia in 2022. Nuclear energy is staging a comeback as demand continues to rise to meet clean energy goals, but the U.S. currently lacks sufficient capacity to turn raw uranium into nuclear fuel.

WSJ takes a look at how the U.S. is reviving domestic production of nuclear fuel to lessen its dependence on Moscow.

0:00 Nuclear power
0:36 Uranium supply chain, explained
1:52 How the U.S. is ramping up domestic capacity 
4:14  Why Russia dominates
4:50 Funding 

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#Nuclear #Russia #WSJ

Is the world's largest producer of nuclear power, but it depends on Russia for about 24% of its enriched uranium, a key ingredient for nuclear fuel, even with enrichment facilities owned by friendly countries.

We still don't have enough if Russian supply was not available in the marketplace.

That's why nuclear fuel is 1 of the few Russian energy sources not banned by the West as a result of the war in Ukraine.

Russia is incredibly willing to use energy as a weapon.

Is working to revive domestic production, to reduce the risk of a critical fuel shortage in the future.

Nuclear reactors generate nearly 20% of US electricity, but demand is quickly rising as the US races to meet its clean energy goals.

We're seeing it from oil, gas, chemical companies, big tech firms.

But more nuclear energy requires more nuclear fuel, and the U.S.

Currently lacks the capacity to produce its own.

That's because uranium ore goes through 4 main processes to become nuclear fuel.

Relies on other countries for 3 of those steps.

First, raw uranium is mined out of the ground and milled.

Then it's converted into a gas and enriched, increasing the percentage of the radioactive isotope.

Finally, the uranium is fabricated into fuel pellets that are stacked inside metal fuel rods and loaded into a nuclear reactor.

Gets most of its uranium ore from Canada and Kazakhstan.

Even though Russia isn't a leader, it is substantially involved in Kazakhstan's mining operations.

There's only 1 U.S.-owned converter, and there's no U.S.-owned enricher for the current fleet of nuclear reactors.

Meanwhile, Russia dominates both of those steps.

We've seen that Russia is willing to use its energy resources as a tool of leverage.

The sooner we can move ourselves away from that potential vulnerability, the better off we're all gonna be.

In an effort to reshore as many steps of this supply chain as possible, a number of U.S.

For example, mining company Energy Fuels is restarting this conventional uranium mine in LaSalle, Utah, after signing long-term contracts with 2 nuclear utilities in 2022.

LaSalle Complex, as we call it, is a mine that dates back to the 50s.

It operated for 20, 30 years, and then it really kind of went dormant for a number of years.

The last commercial production of uranium at LaSalle was in 2014.

Now, with increasing uranium prices, we're going back into full production in 2024.

Energy Fuels is currently hiring about 50 miners, purchasing and refurbishing equipment, and doing maintenance work.

O mining about 70,000 tons least initially, not quit scale nuclear reactor.

Instead, he sees it as a way to diversify the country sources of raw uranium.

With the contracts that we have, we can make nice margins, but we're gonna need higher uranium prices that justify restarting of production because every time we restart a mine, they get more expensive.

Along with its mines, Energy Fuels also plans to restart White Mesa Mill in 2024, the only operating conventional uranium mill in the U.S.

This is where uranium ore goes after it's mined and before it goes to a conversion facility.

This came from La Salle complex and that's Utah.

On the enrichment front, Centris Energy launched the only U.S.-owned uranium enrichment plant earlier this year.

It made its first delivery of high-assay, low-enriched uranium, or HALU, to the U.S.

HALU will be used in the next generation of advanced reactors.

Because these reactors are still being developed, many proponents of nuclear energy see the HALU supply chain as an opportunity for the U.S.

When these advanced reactors were initially coming to market, their plan was to buy from Russia, which is the only commercial supplier of that fuel type today.

In light of the Russian assault on Ukraine, those plans have changed.

As part of the Inflation Reduction Act, $700 million was invested to support the development of a domestic supply chain for HALU.

Russia's dominance in the uranium supply chain can be traced back to a program called Megatons to Megawatts.

The goal of this program was for Russia to downgrade the uranium from its nuclear weapons to levels needed for nuclear reactors, and then sell that fuel to the U.S.

Since 2013, when that program expired, we've still had a lot of commercial activity with Russia because of those strong commercial relationships that had been built up.

Also privatized its uranium enrichment operations.

But Without federal support, the country's 2 enrichment facilities eventually had to be shut down.

Kotex says 1 of the biggest challenges of building up domestic capability is giving companies the confidence that their investments will pay off.

There's no such thing as a nuclear fuel cycle without some level of government support.

Russia is really operating as a state owned enterprise.

Kotex says the industry needs federal investment in both infrastructure and long term contracts with utility companies.

Utilities are the owners and operators of nuclear reactors that pay for each step of this process.

In October, the Biden administration sent a proposal to Congress to invest around $2 billion to improve long-term domestic enrichment capabilities.

We requested this as an administration because it is a high priority.

In the long term, we would like to see this commercial industry stand on its own without consistent and forever federal investment.

A bipartisan group in Congress is also pushing legislation to ban U.S.

Nothing happens quickly in the nuclear fuel cycle.

When you lose your capabilities like we've done in the United States, you're looking at probably 10 to 15 years plus to reestablish those capabilities.

It's important to invest quickly so that it's an aggressive expansion and we don't run out of uranium before we need it.

Meeting the fuel demands for both today's plants and new plants are going to require a lot of investment in all of those technologies.


Speaker 0: The U.S. Is the world's largest producer of nuclear power, but it depends on Russia for about 24% of its enriched uranium, a key ingredient for nuclear fuel, even with enrichment facilities owned by friendly countries.

Speaker 1: We still don't have enough if Russian supply was not available in the marketplace.

Speaker 0: That's why nuclear fuel is 1 of the few Russian energy sources not banned by the West as a result of the war in Ukraine. But…

Speaker 2: Russia is incredibly willing to use energy as a weapon.

Speaker 0: Here's how the U.S. Is working to revive domestic production, to reduce the risk of a critical fuel shortage in the future. Nuclear reactors generate nearly 20% of US electricity, but demand is quickly rising as the US races to meet its clean energy goals.

Speaker 1: We're seeing it from our utilities. We're seeing it from oil, gas, chemical companies, big tech firms.

Speaker 0: But more nuclear energy requires more nuclear fuel, and the U.S. Currently lacks the capacity to produce its own. That's because uranium ore goes through 4 main processes to become nuclear fuel. And the U.S. Relies on other countries for 3 of those steps.

First, raw uranium is mined out of the ground and milled. Then it's converted into a gas and enriched, increasing the percentage of the radioactive isotope. Finally, the uranium is fabricated into fuel pellets that are stacked inside metal fuel rods and loaded into a nuclear reactor. The U.S. Gets most of its uranium ore from Canada and Kazakhstan.

Even though Russia isn't a leader, it is substantially involved in Kazakhstan's mining operations. There's only 1 U.S.-owned converter, and there's no U.S.-owned enricher for the current fleet of nuclear reactors. Meanwhile, Russia dominates both of those steps.

Speaker 1: We've seen that Russia is willing to use its energy resources as a tool of leverage. The sooner we can move ourselves away from that potential vulnerability, the better off we're all gonna be.

Speaker 0: In an effort to reshore as many steps of this supply chain as possible, a number of U.S. Companies are ramping up capacity. For example, mining company Energy Fuels is restarting this conventional uranium mine in LaSalle, Utah, after signing long-term contracts with 2 nuclear utilities in 2022.

Speaker 3: LaSalle Complex, as we call it, is a mine that dates back to the 50s. It operated for 20, 30 years, and then it really kind of went dormant for a number of years.

Speaker 0: The last commercial production of uranium at LaSalle was in 2014.

Speaker 3: Now, with increasing uranium prices, we're going back into full production in 2024.

Speaker 0: Energy Fuels is currently hiring about 50 miners, purchasing and refurbishing equipment, and doing maintenance work.

Speaker 3: O mining about 70,000 tons least initially, not quit scale nuclear reactor.

Speaker 0: Ch uranium mining in the U.S. To replace larger producers like Canada. Instead, he sees it as a way to diversify the country sources of raw uranium.

Speaker 3: With the contracts that we have, we can make nice margins, but we're gonna need higher uranium prices that justify restarting of production because every time we restart a mine, they get more expensive.

Speaker 0: Along with its mines, Energy Fuels also plans to restart White Mesa Mill in 2024, the only operating conventional uranium mill in the U.S. This is where uranium ore goes after it's mined and before it goes to a conversion facility.

Speaker 3: This came from La Salle complex and that's Utah. This came from New Mexico.

Speaker 0: On the enrichment front, Centris Energy launched the only U.S.-owned uranium enrichment plant earlier this year. It made its first delivery of high-assay, low-enriched uranium, or HALU, to the U.S. Department of Energy in November. HALU will be used in the next generation of advanced reactors. Because these reactors are still being developed, many proponents of nuclear energy see the HALU supply chain as an opportunity for the U.S.

To become a global leader.

Speaker 1: When these advanced reactors were initially coming to market, their plan was to buy from Russia, which is the only commercial supplier of that fuel type today. In light of the Russian assault on Ukraine, those plans have changed.

Speaker 0: As part of the Inflation Reduction Act, $700 million was invested to support the development of a domestic supply chain for HALU. Russia's dominance in the uranium supply chain can be traced back to a program called Megatons to Megawatts. The goal of this program was for Russia to downgrade the uranium from its nuclear weapons to levels needed for nuclear reactors, and then sell that fuel to the U.S. For cheap.

Speaker 1: Since 2013, when that program expired, we've still had a lot of commercial activity with Russia because of those strong commercial relationships that had been built up.

Speaker 0: In the 90s, the U.S. Also privatized its uranium enrichment operations. But Without federal support, the country's 2 enrichment facilities eventually had to be shut down. Kotex says 1 of the biggest challenges of building up domestic capability is giving companies the confidence that their investments will pay off.

Speaker 3: Federal support, we think, is crucial. There's no such thing as a nuclear fuel cycle without some level of government support. Russia is really operating as a state owned enterprise.

Speaker 0: Kotex says the industry needs federal investment in both infrastructure and long term contracts with utility companies. Utilities are the owners and operators of nuclear reactors that pay for each step of this process. In October, the Biden administration sent a proposal to Congress to invest around $2 billion to improve long-term domestic enrichment capabilities.

Speaker 2: We requested this as an administration because it is a high priority. In the long term, we would like to see this commercial industry stand on its own without consistent and forever federal investment.

Speaker 0: A bipartisan group in Congress is also pushing legislation to ban U.S. Use of Russian uranium.

Speaker 3: Nothing happens quickly in the nuclear fuel cycle. When you lose your capabilities like we've done in the United States, you're looking at probably 10 to 15 years plus to reestablish those capabilities.

Speaker 2: It's important to invest quickly so that it's an aggressive expansion and we don't run out of uranium before we need it.

Speaker 1: Meeting the fuel demands for both today's plants and new plants are going to require a lot of investment in all of those technologies.

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Why the U.S. Buys So Much Nuclear Fuel From Russia | WSJ