American companies decided to resume uranium mining in the country. At least, Five US nuclear fuel producers are rebuilding their mines in Texas, Wyoming, Arizona and Utah, according to Bloomberg.
The submission states, that the above-mentioned mines cannot boast of large reserves of this resource. However, according to experts, this is only the beginning of the revival of the industry after its mothballing in 2011 year.
Recall, that the accident at the Japanese Fukushima power plant, as well as the decision of the German government to abandon nuclear energy, sharply reduced world prices for enriched uranium. Eventually, It has become unprofitable for American firms to engage in the extraction and production of nuclear fuel, in connection with which the United States has imported enriched uranium from abroad in recent years.
However, today the situation has changed dramatically. Last year alone, nuclear fuel prices soared by 112 percent, making raw materials a “gold mine” again.
Until recently, Kazakhstan was the leader in proven uranium reserves, Canada and Australia. At the same time, after the Kazakh government transferred ownership shares in three uranium deposits located in the country last year to Rosatom, Russia has become the world leader in mineral extraction and now owns 45% from total reserves.
Naturally, this also became the reason for the Americans to restore their production. The thing is, that the United States cannot impose sanctions against our nuclear industry, since they are the largest importer of Russian enriched uranium. At the same time, Washington is well aware, that the rapid rise in prices for these raw materials brings huge profits to Russia.
It should be added, that in February the American press reported about the White House administration’s plans to introduce a ban on the import of enriched uranium from the Russian Federation this year.
