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By: Real America News Updated 04 Sea 2022, 15: 00 pm EST
While the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is escalating and accumulating greater tension a week after the start of the invasion, the United States government has been forced, little by little, to take high-risk measures on the supply of its energy assets.
The United States and European countries have already imposed economic sanctions on banks and Russian business leaders in response to the invasion, although they have taken pains to avoid directly halting Russia’s oil and natural gas exports.
However, with the largest nuclear power plant in Europe in the hands of Russian troops, the concerns that began and continue with oil, have now also extended to the supply of uranium for Nuclear Power Plants.
Who does the US buy uranium from
According to the World Nuclear Association, the US is the world’s largest producer of nuclear energy , which represents more than 30% of the nuclear generation of electricity in worldwide.
American power companies get their supply of nuclear fuel from a variety of companies and countries.
The United States depends on Russia and its allies Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for about half of the uranium that fuels its nuclear plants, which in turn produce around 20% of the country’s electricity, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration and the World Nuclear Association .
How it could affect the pockets of Americans
In the midst of a historic escalation of prices due to inflation and concern about energy costs, could also add an increase in electricity bills.
US nuclear reactors produced 843 ,00 million kWh in 2019, around the 19% of total electricity production. For this reason, various experts have argued that Russian imports of uranium are necessary
to keep electricity prices low.
The Nuclear Energy Institute, a trade group made up of several plant operators nuclear weapons in the US, urged the Biden administration to keep uranium sales exempt from sanctions
, according to a report published by the Reuters agency.
But other experts point out that the problem is not only prices, it also involves the impulse of US nuclear industry to develop a domestic commercial fuel supply chain and uranium stockpile.
Uranium essential for zero emissions targets
The energy sector of The US has emphasized the importance ia from nuclear power to meet the nation’s net-zero carbon emission goals. This includes extending the useful life of existing reactors and developing state-of-the-art technologies that can be used in the next decade.
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