Nation World reported in late August 2023 that the United States has long depended on Russian uranium for its nuclear energy needs and imports significant quantities despite geopolitical tensions. Now, however, the United States is taking bold steps to break that dependency and ensure its energy independence.
A major development is the expansion of the Urenco facility in New Mexico. Urenco, which supplies about a third of US needs for enriched uranium, is increasing production by 15% to meet growing nuclear energy needs. The expansion is expected to be completed by 2027 and will help replace the US market’s reliance on Russian uranium, [now that the predicted failures of wind and solar drawbacks (only solar during the day but not nights and only windy days and nights) are becoming clear, especially in Texas (see use on ERCOT), although they are useful as an interim measure while coal burring is replaced with SMRs over the coming years that have no such restrictions]
The Biden administration is also exploring the use of thorium as an alternative to uranium in nuclear energy. Thorium is touted as a more efficient and safer option because it produces less waste and more energy than uranium. It does not melt and does not produce any weapons-grade by-products. The US Department of Energy, Texas A&M Nuclear Science and Engineering Center and Idaho National Laboratory have partnered with Clean Core Thorium Energy to develop a new thorium-based nuclear fuel called ANEEL (Advanced Nuclear Energy for Enriched Life). ANEEL combines thorium with “high advisory low enriched uranium” to address cost and waste issues.
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