The White House has sent a request to the US Congress to allocate $ 6 billion to ensure "Protect American Security and Bolster Energy Independence," $2.2 billion of this amount is planned to be spent to "improve long-term, domestic enrichment capabilities for low-enriched uranium and high-assay low-enriched uranium."
The press release says that the allocation of designated funds for the development of the energy industry will allow the United States and allies to avoid dependence on Russian energy supplies. According to the document, $300 million will be spent on the development of the oil reserve of the Ministry of Energy in case of a scenario in which there will be supply disruptions around the world. $278 million is planned to be allocated to strengthen the position and increase the competitiveness of the United States in the isotope market, and $200 million will be allocated to strengthen the security of energy facilities.
Production of enriched uranium is highlighted in the document - the administration has requested $ 2.2 billion for the development of the industry. These funds should be used to "improve long-term, domestic enrichment capabilities for low-enriched uranium and high-assay low-enriched uranium," in order to ensure the operation of small modular nuclear reactors being developed in the country. In the message, uranium enrichment is called a national security priority, since "dependence on Russian sources of uranium creates risk to the U.S. economy and the civil nuclear industry".
"Without action, Russia will continue its hold on the global uranium market to the detriment of U.S. allies and partners. To be successful, this initiative would also require a long-term ban on enriched uranium product imports from the Russian Federation into the United States," - the message says.
After the start of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the United States imposed large-scale sanctions and restrictions aimed at most sectors of the Russian economy, but this did not affect the export of uranium from Russia. In the first half of 2023, the United States purchased 416 tons of uranium from Russia worth $696.5 million, which was a record since 2002. During the year, the cost of supplies increased 2.5 times, and the Russian share in American imports reached 32%. The US also increased purchases from the UK – the volume of deliveries increased by 28% and amounted to $383.1 million in monetary terms. The largest increase in uranium supplies to the United States occurred in France, which transported $ 319 million worth of uranium to the American market, last year the amount of supplies was $ 1.9 million. The top five suppliers also included Germany ($277 million) and Canada ($247.5 million).
Source - The White House
