Pilot production of uranium in the United States will not affect contracts for the supply of uranium products to Russia's state-owned nuclear energy corporation Rosatom, Alexander Uvarov, head of the Atomic Information Center of the Autonomous Non-Commercial Organization, said.
“For nuclear power plants, uranium enriched up to 5% is used, and it is this enriched uranium product that Rosatom supplies to the United States. Uranium called HALEU is enriched to almost 20% and is not used in modern nuclear power plants. It is believed that the demand for HALEU in the United States will increase in the future, in the 2030s and beyond,” Uvarov told TASS on April 21.
HALEU stands for high-assay low-enriched uranium, ranging from 5-19.75%.
As Mr. Uvarov explained, such uranium should be used in advanced reactors that are being developed by a number of private companies. However, according to him, the practical feasibility of such reactors has not yet been proven, and the only company that is taking the first practical steps towards building them is TerraPower, owned by billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
“Therefore, the pilot production of HALEU in the US has no direct impact on Rosatom’s contracts. All HALEU produced in the US is currently in storage,” the expert said.
Inside the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio, where thousands of centrifuges could one day be installed, June 2023. Photo: NY Times
Earlier, speaking at a construction conference in Washington DC on April 19, US President Joe Biden announced that his country had produced the first 200 pounds (90.7 kg) of enriched uranium. According to him, the first plant in Ohio is expected to enrich about 1 ton of fuel by the end of this year, enough to provide electricity for 100,000 homes in the country.
“For too long, we have relied on imported uranium to power our nuclear reactors… My administration is working to change all that. We are investing $3.4 billion in advanced nuclear fuel production right here in America,” Biden said.
The US Department of Energy's information portal said on April 19 that the US Centrifuge Project has now enriched nearly 100 kg of HALEU at its plant in Piketon, Ohio and is working towards producing another 900 kg.
The Piketon plant began enriching the country's first HALEU product last November, contributing to efforts to develop an advanced nuclear fuel supply chain.
Russia currently provides about 44% of global uranium enrichment services and 20-30% of enriched uranium products used in the United States and Europe, according to the US Department of Energy .
Minh Duc (According to TASS, Energy.gov, WhiteHouse.gov)
Source
Comment (0)