United States announces availability of tools for the production of enriched uranium

By Alimat Aliyeva

U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm claims that the United States has the tools to produce enriched uranium, Azernews reports.

"I believe that we have the tools necessary to build a strategy in the country [for the production of enriched] uranium in order to ensure our security," the head of the Ministry of Energy said at a hearing before the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives of the US Congress. According to Granholm, the bill approved by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday banning the import of enriched uranium from Russia will allow "creating [in the United States] a reliable infrastructure" for uranium enrichment for American nuclear reactors. At the same time, she assured lawmakers that the agency would report to Congress on the implementation of plans to increase production of enriched uranium in the United States.

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved a bill banning the import of enriched uranium from Russia, it was previously approved by the House of Representatives of Congress. Now the document must be signed by US President Joe Biden. The White House has stated that it supports the bill.

The bill provides for the introduction of a ban on the import of Russian uranium to the United States 90 days after entry into force, and temporary exceptions will be in effect until January 2028. Thus, the initiative allows the US Department of Energy, in coordination with the Secretary of State and the Minister of Finance, to issue permits for the import of Russian uranium in volumes permitted by current American legislation. The document also imposes obligations on the Ministry of Energy to search for and provide Congress with options for replacing uranium supplies from the Russian Federation.