U. S. Office of Nuclear Energy on Russian Uranium Ban Waiver Guidance - 2024

Uranium (Nuclear Minerals) / Exploration, Mining, Marketing, & Acquisitions

The U.S. Office of Nuclear Energy reported that President Biden signed into law H.R.1042, the Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act, banning the import of low-enriched uranium (LEU) from Russia. The ban goes into effect on August 11, 2024. 

                                                                Should We Ban Russian Uranium? - Prohibiting Russian Uranium
                                                                Imports Act - H.R.1042 (more?)

To ensure U.S. nuclear power plants do not experience disruptions, the U.S. Department of Energy released a process that allows the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Commerce, to grant a waiver to an importer for specified quantities of Russian LEU if the Secretary of Energy determines that: 

1) no alternative viable source of LEU is available to sustain the continued operation of a nuclear reactor or a U.S. nuclear energy company; or

2) the importation of Russian LEU is in the national interest.

An import could be in the national interest if it meets one of the following criteria:

• The import is necessary to maintain the viability of a U.S. nuclear energy company that is critical to the U.S. nuclear energy fuel supply chain;
  
  
• The import is intended to support an existing arrangement to provide fuel for a nuclear power plant in another country and thus minimize the likelihood of that country seeking a non-U.S. fuel supplier; and
  
  
• Applicants for a waiver should submit their request electronically, via email to uraniumwaiver@nuclear.energy.gov.

Please include “Request for a Waiver to Permit Imports of Russian LEU” in the subject line.