The Russian government didn’t provide details of the restrictions or their duration in a Friday statement. Utilities tend to make purchases well in advance, so any impact is unlikely to be immediate.
Russia also told Austria on Friday it’s throttling gas supplies, interrupting a six-decade supply agreement currently covering 80% of demand because of a legal dispute.
The latest move targets a particularly vulnerable US link in the nuclear fuel cycle. Russia controls almost half the world’s capacity to separate the uranium isotopes needed in reactors, and last year supplied more than a quarter of the US’s enriched fuel.
While most deliveries have already been made this year, a ban could have implications from 2025, said Jonathan Hinze, president of UxC, which tracks uranium-fuel markets. That may leave some reactor operators without an alternative supplier.
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