Why has the US not dared to embargo Russia’s uranium?

However, there is one product that Washington ignores: uranium. According to the newspaper The New York Times On May 2, the United States relied on Russian uranium to fuel more than 90 nuclear reactors across the country.

This dependence on the one hand fuels ambitions to revive the uranium industry in the Western United States, on the other, raises concerns regarding the industry’s impact on the environment.

“We have the power to reduce our dependence on Russian uranium right now,” said Mark Chalmers, chief executive officer of Energy Fuels.

“It’s easy to use the Russian-Ukrainian conflict as an excuse to push this project forward,” said Stuart Chavez, a member of the Havasupai Tribal Council, about Pinyon Plain Mine.

The United States depends on Russian uranium to fuel more than 90 nuclear reactors across the country. Photo: Reuters

It is one of many approved uranium mining projects in the states of Arizona, Utah and Wyoming. In the event of a US embargo on Russian uranium, the activities of these projects could be accelerated rapidly.

According to Mr. Chavez, the US could turn to Canada or other “friendly” countries to make up for the shortfall in Russian uranium if imports were stopped.

In March, Republican Senator John Barrasso introduced a bill to ban imports of Russian uranium, in part to revive operations at uranium mines in the Western United States.

Lawmakers in the House, including Democrat Henry Cuellar, have also introduced similar legislation.

However, these bills have yet to pass through both houses, mainly because the US is still too dependent on Russian uranium.

The administration of US President Joe Biden has imposed an import ban targeting a wide range of Russian energy products, from oil to coal. Photo: Reuters