From 2020 to 2022, China did not supply enriched uranium to the US at all. Then in December, when American lawmakers approved a ban on imports from Russia, China sent 242,990 kilograms across the Pacific, according to the records of the US International Trade Commission. This May, when Biden signed the legislators’ decision, the US received another huge shipment of enriched uranium from China, this time weighing 123,894 kilograms, reports Reuters.
The US Department of Energy “along with other relevant agencies is closely monitoring supplies from China to ensure the proper implementation of the recently introduced law banning the import of Russian uranium,” a spokesman for the ministry said now.
Rather than China transporting Russian uranium to the US, American authorities are working with the version that not only it, but also other states could now buy cheaper uranium from countries affected by sanctions and deliver their domestic product abroad for profit. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not yet officially commented on the announcement of the investigation.
Russia is the world’s largest exporter of enriched uranium. It will supply the USA until 2028, but until then, in accordance with the new law, the amount of uranium imported from Russia will decrease. Until this July, the USA received a total of 313,050 kilograms, which is 30% less than last year.
However, if Russia were to find a way around this ban, it would undermine America’s efforts to get rid of its nuclear industry’s dependence on Russian fuel. It would also weaken the initiative of the Biden administration to launch its own supply chain of uranium, for which 2.72 billion dollars (61.4 billion crowns) were allocated by the same law.
Russian shipments of uranium to China also increased rapidly in 2022 and 2023. This is explained by the fact that Beijing is building new reactors, but according to analysts, it also allows it to export its own uranium. “As China seeks to build a greater role in the world market for enriched uranium, increased supplies of Russian enriched uranium may enable Beijing to do so,” said a March report by the Royal United Services Institute think tank.
