The U.S. Department of Commerce and Russia’s state atomic agency have signed an amendment extending a 1992 agreement that will reduce America’s reliance on Russian uranium.
“This landmark agreement will contribute to the revitalization of American nuclear industry, while promoting America’s long-term strategic interests,” Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said in a statement. “It represents yet another success for the Trump Administration’s America First approach to international trade agreements.”
The amendment extends the Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Investigation on Uranium from the Russian Federation to 2040 and so “reduces U.S. reliance on uranium from Russia” for the next 20 years.
Under the 1992 agreement, which saw a series of amendments added over the years, with the latest in 2008, the amount of Russian uranium entering the American market is restricted by quotas. The most recently agreed upon limits were due to lapse this year, prompting moves to renew the deal via an amendment.
The agreement would see Russian uranium exports to the United States drop from the current approximately 20 percent of U.S. enrichment demand to an average of around 17 percent over the next two decades, before falling to a target of 15 percent starting in 2028.
“By extending and reducing the Agreement’s export limits, the draft amendment would enable the U.S. commercial enrichment industry to compete on fair terms,” the Commerce Department stated.
The amendment also establishes more protections for U.S. uranium miners and the U.S. uranium converter. Currently, Russia can use all of its export quota to sell not just the enrichment portion of low-enriched uranium, but also natural uranium concentrates and conversion components. The amendment caps the uranium components at around 7 percent of U.S. enrichment demand until 2026, at which point it would drop to just 5 percent.
Another measure includes preventing so-called returned feed uranium to be traded outside the current export quotas. This is natural uranium delivered by U.S. customers to Russian exporters, which is enriched in Western Europe and exported to the United States outside the agreement’s current export limits. The amendment subjects this type of returned feed uranium to export restrictions.