In recent remarks to Russian ministers, Mr. Putin also said that such restrictions could also be applied to other goods, noting that Russia is a major producer of natural gas, diamonds and gold, according to The Telegraph on September 11.
"Let's look at some of the goods we supply to the world market... Maybe we should consider certain restrictions - uranium, titanium, nickel," Putin urged Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
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Uranium is extracted from ore and used to power nuclear reactors.
Mr Putin's remarks have boosted the share prices of uranium mining companies on expectations that prices will skyrocket.
Last year, the United States and China topped the list of countries importing Russian uranium, followed by South Korea, France, Kazakhstan and Germany. Russia is the world's largest exporter of nuclear fuel and technology.
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Russian Security Council via video link in Moscow on August 23.
Since conflict broke out in Ukraine in February 2022, Western governments have tried to limit their dependence on Russian exports.
In May, US President Joe Biden signed into law a ban on imports of enriched uranium from Russia. However, the law includes exemptions in case of supply concerns, allowing the US Department of Energy to maintain normal uranium imports from Russia until 2027.
Russia accounted for 27% of the enriched uranium supplied to US commercial nuclear reactors last year. "It will be very difficult to replace, especially in the short term, in the next 2-3 years," said analyst Arkady Gevorkyan of Citi.
"Western uranium enrichment players are only planning to build additional enrichment capacity, which will take at least three years to complete. We predict that US companies can partially replace it by importing low-enriched uranium from China," Gevorkyan commented.
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In January 2023, the UK government launched a Nuclear Fuel Fund to boost domestic nuclear fuel production. At the time, the UK government estimated that Russia had about 20% of the world's uranium conversion capacity and 40% of its uranium enrichment capacity.
Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association (UK), confirmed to The Telegraph that the UK does not use any Russian uranium and the industry has more than 12 months' worth of stock.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ong-putin-tung-chieu-moi-nga-co-the-dung-de-tra-dua-phuong-tay-185240912082542056.htm
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