Reuters: U.S. suspects China may be supplying Russian uranium to circumvent sanctions
Kyiv • UNN
The United States has seen a sharp increase in enriched uranium imports from China since the end of 2023. It is suspected that China is helping Russia to circumvent sanctions by supplying Russian uranium under the guise of Chinese uranium.
Given the sharp increase in imports of enriched uranium from China since the end of 2023, the United States suspects that China is helping Moscow to circumvent sanctions against enriched uranium. Reuters writes about this, UNN reports.
Details
The publication explains that at the end of 2023, US lawmakers passed a ban on Russian enriched uranium. In the same month, China shipped 242,990 kilograms of enriched uranium to the United States, a significant increase, as China did not export enriched uranium to the United States from 2020 to 2022.
In May of this year, when Biden signed the ban, China again shipped a significant shipment of uranium-this time 123,894 kilograms
It is noted that the US Department of Energy, along with other relevant agencies, is closely monitoring imports from China to ensure proper implementation of the recently passed law banning imports of Russian uranium.
Meanwhile, U.S. officials are monitoring imports from China and other countries to "ensure that they are not importing Russian uranium under the guise of exporting material that they would otherwise use in their own reactors.
Addendum
According to the World Bank, China's imports of Russian enriched uranium surged in 2022 and 2023. Although China is building more reactors that will require a steady supply of uranium, supplies from Russia could also help it export the fuel, analysts say.
With China possibly seeking a greater role in global enriched uranium markets, increased imports of Russian enriched uranium could help achieve Beijing's ambitions
Meanwhile, the professional association Uranium Producers of America (UPA) has proposed to increase the import duty on Chinese uranium to 50%.
According to its adviser, John Indall, representatives of the organization met with the Commerce Department in July over concerns that imports from China are a way around the ban on Russian uranium.
We would not want to turn off the Russian tap and suddenly see that all this material is coming to us from China.
Recall
In May , the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a law banning imports of enriched uranium from Russia. The document bans imports of Russian uranium to the United States until January 2028.
