A large uranium producer accelerates mining to win new customers
Europe got rid of Russian crude oil, refined products and natural gas following the war in Ukraine. But the dependence on Russia's vast nuclear industry has been more complicated.
Russia, through its state-owned nuclear energy company, Rosatom, dominates the global nuclear supply chain. It is a major supplier of enriched uranium for European power plants. But there are emerging signs of a future shift of uranium supplies from Russia to Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan's state-owned uranium mining company Kazatomprom is preparing to ramp up reserves for production as demand is expected to increase as European countries' nuclear supply chains refocus, Bloomberg reported. who will leave Russia.
Kazatomprom CEO Yerzhan Mukanov said geopolitical uncertainties and sanctions were "reshaping nuclear fuel flows, prompting some energy producers to stockpile." He said Eastern European nuclear power plants are trying to win contracts starting in 2025, abandoning dependence on Russia. “We are preparing our reserves for production, in order to be able to respond to market demands,” Mukanov said in an interview with Astana.
For decades, the world had little choice but Russia to supply enriched uranium for nuclear power plants. After the invasion of Ukraine, European countries and even the United States are trying to reduce their dependence on the Russian nuclear energy superstore.
In 2022, President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act last year to pave the way for nuclear power to decarbonize power grids, which includes a big push to increase U.S. uranium mining and processing to ensure energy security.
Russia's dominance of the global uranium market could weaken as the West diversifies its supply of enriched uranium. With the emergence of nuclear power as a crucial component for decarbonising power grids, capable of delivering electricity on demand, demand for uranium is expected to soar.
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The article A large uranium producer accelerates mining to win new customers comes from Scenari Economici .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/un-grande-produttore-di-uranio-accelera-lestrazione-per-conquistare-nuovi-clienti/ on Thu, 13 Apr 2023 07:00:22 +0000.