Nuclear fuel

Main article: Nuclear Power Engineering

Uranium

Main article: Uranium (market)

Fuel for nuclear power plants is. uranium It is a relatively common element with natural radioactivity.

How nuclear fuel is produced

In order for uranium ore to be used in the reactor, it must undergo a huge industrial process. According to the technology for 2023, the element must be mined, crushed and converted into a gaseous form. Then, in enrichment plants, isotopes constituting about 0.7% of heavy metal are released from it, and it is converted into a powder, from which rods that are part of the fuel assemblies of reactors are made with high accuracy.

The same materials and processes that are used to produce fuel for reactors can also be used to build nuclear weapons, which forces manufacturers to protect information about their production processes.

History

2023

Russia has a dominant position in the nuclear fuel market

ROSATOM, which operates not only as an expression of Russia's geopolitical power, but also as a successful business, is the only company involved in all parts of the technological chain - from ore mining to enrichment and fuel delivery.

Rosatom dominates the global uranium enrichment market

As of 2023, 330 thousand of its employees provide dozens of reactors in Eastern Europe and Russia with fuel assemblies. In addition, the company is building 33 new power units in 10 countries, including China and India, which will be contracted to supply fuel for decades to come.

Former allies of the USSR in Eastern Europe continue to operate dozens of VVER water reactors. Most of these outdated units use Rosatom's fuel and generate electricity beyond the original period for which regulators licensed them. This means that new companies have little incentive to enter this market and compete with Russian suppliers. There are exceptions. Westinghouse, which emerged from bankruptcy in 2018, has signed contracts for the supply of fuel for some Ukrainian VVER reactors. But even in this case, Ukraine continues to rely on the reserves of fuel previously supplied by Rosatom, and will not be able to completely abandon Russian supplies until at least the end of the 2020s. In general, Russia often covers about 30% of the EU's needs for enriched uranium.

According to the US government, Russia delivered about a quarter of the enriched uranium purchased by US nuclear reactors in 2022.

In which countries the United States is forced to buy nuclear fuel

The most vulnerable are the new generation of so-called small modular reactors (SMRs). They run on uranium enriched to high levels, which reduces the frequency of refills. In 2023, Rosatom supplies all such fuel to the United States.

For 2023, Rosatom's competitors are three small state-owned companies or consortia:

• China National Nuclear Corporation,
• French Orano and
• Urenco, owned by Britain, the Netherlands and Germany.

The United States doubled the purchase of uranium from Russia

At the end of August 2023, it became known that the United States more than doubled the purchase of uranium from Russia, despite the current geopolitical situation. Read more here.

US and EU refuse to impose sanctions against Rosatom due to dependence on its supplies

An attempt to pressure Russia through fomenting conflict in Ukraine is forcing the US and EU to look for alternative sources of enriched uranium to run their reactors. As of August 2023, about half of the world's supplies are from Russia, which has become an unpleasant reality for the leaders of the United States and Europe.

Facilities for the production of enriched uranium for nuclear power plants in countries of the world and their share of exports to the United States

Western governments have avoided imposing sanctions on Rosatom because it could hurt their own nuclear industry and economy more than Russia's.

The United States and its satellites are trying to repeat Russia's success in the production of nuclear fuel

Dependence on high nuclear technologies from Russia and a sense of vulnerability on both sides of the Atlantic led to the fact that in March 2023 the United States and Canada pledged to jointly create new reserves of enriched uranium in North America.

Following this, the United States,, and Britain Canada Japan France entered into a separate agreement on the creation of "joint supply chains that isolate." Russia United States Congress considers imposing domestic restrictions on Russian uranium imports and investment incentives to attract new suppliers.

Joe Biden The law on climate and net, adopted in 2022 by the President of the United States to power , includes $700 million for the development of American fuel supplies for modern reactors. power engineering specialists The U.S. Department and Centrus Energy Corp. are working on a demonstration project to produce uranium used in SMR reactors.

European fuel producers, including Urenco and Orano, are also investing in new capacity, including in the United States, to distract customers from Russian suppliers. According to the expectations of industry leaders, it will take about five years to completely refuse supplies from Russia.

In the year since the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, Rosatom has increased exports by more than a fifth, concluding new deals in emerging markets. Rosatom has derided efforts to diversify supplies from Russia, saying the proposed fuel supply chains look like Frankenstein's monster compared to its brand of vertical integration.

U.S. plans to boost uranium production at only North American plant

The Urenco Ltd. plant in the New Mexico desert USA in is the only commercial supplier of enriched uranium in. North America The plant provides about a third of the U.S. needs for enriched uranium and is in the process of increasing production by 15%.

Uranium Mining and Processing in North America and Europe 2023

2020: US imports 47% of uranium from Kazakhstan, Russia and Uzbekistan

Energy Information Administration (EIA), reports that by the end of 2020, about 90% of uranium used in the United States is imported. Of these, 47% are for supplies from Kazakhstan, Russia and Uzbekistan. 48.9 million pounds of uranium oxide U3O8 were purchased for American nuclear power plants. Of this volume, the United States independently produced only 5 million pounds.

Rosatom accounts for 35% of the world's enriched uranium production.

The U.S. uranium market is controlled by two large supplier groups. Canada and Australia deliver 34%. Russia and Kazakhstan 38.6%. In the state corporation "Kazatomprom" control packages of uranium mines of Kazakhstan belong to "Rosatom." Enrichment of Kazakh uranium is carried out at Russian plants.

Of the 440 units of the world in the United States are 93. And the only commercial uranium enrichment facility in New Mexico went into operation in 2010. It is owned by Urenco, headquartered in Britain. Most of the uranium processed for industrial use in the United States is supplied by Urenco. It is impossible to quickly increase uranium mining and enrichment.

America's officially explored uranium reserves are only 1% of the world's, although some of the reserves may not be "declared."

55 American nuclear power plants with a total capacity of 95.5 GW generate 19.7% of electricity in the United States.

2013: Last uranium enrichment plant closes in US

The last commercial enrichment plant owned USA closed in 2013, and many countries allowed a reduction in their production capacity amid growing rejection of the nuclear plant power engineering specialists after the disaster Fukushima NPP Japan in 2011. In those years, some Western companies involved in the fuel cycle went bankrupt, including France's Areva SA, America's Enrichment Co. and. Westinghouse Electric

At the same time, Russia continued to increase its market share not only due to the world's fleet of nuclear reactors, but also through generous financing of new foreign projects.

1995-2013: Deliveries of 14,446 tons of low-enriched uranium from Russia to the United States

The Russian-American agreement on the processing and supply of uranium was signed in February 1993 by Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and US Vice President Albert Gore. Russia has pledged to supply the United States with low-enriched uranium (LEU), obtained from 500 tons of highly enriched uranium (HEU), within 20 years. The Americans pledged to accept, place on the market, pay for the work of the separation and the natural uranium component of the LEU. The first delivery of low-enriched uranium to the United States was made in May 1995, and the last on November 14, 2013. In total, 14,446 tons of LEU were exported as part of the Gora-Chernomyrdin deal. This significantly exceeds the volume of all uranium produced in the United States in history.