Energo: G7 to reduce dependence on Russian nuclear technology and fuel

Energy ministers from the G7 nations have agreed to significantly reduce their reliance on Russian nuclear power and fuel resources, they said on April 30 in a communiqué following a meeting in Torino, Italy.

"We note the ongoing efforts by countries which operate Russian-designed reactors to make progress in securing alternative nuclear fuel contracts and to reduce dependencies related to spare parts, components and services," read the statement.

Russian nuclear fuel has been off the sanctions table until now as there are few alternative supplies. But uranium is the new gas, as Russia’s state-owned Rosatom does dozens of deals around the world to provide countries not only with Russia’s state-of-the-art reactors, but 60-year fuel and maintenance deals that effectively bind foreign powers to Moscow in a new energy dependency. Rosatom accounts for about half of global supplies of nuclear fuel.

Rosatom provided 30% of enriched uranium supplies purchased by the EU and 23% of those bought by the US in 2022, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) said in a report in March, as cited by Kyiv Independent.

The World Nuclear Association (WNA) released a report in September forecasting a significant increase in the global demand for uranium in nuclear reactors up until 2030. As Russia has not only copious supplies of raw “yellow cake” refined uranium 235, but also dominates the processing and refinement of uranium ore.