The Zhitong Finance App learned that the US Senate voted on Tuesday evening to pass a bill prohibiting the import of enriched uranium from Russia and submitted the bill to the White House. The White House has said it supports banning the import of enriched uranium from Russia.

The “Prohibited Russian Uranium Imports Act” (Prohibited Russian Uranium Imports Act) was passed unanimously. The bill will ban the US from importing Russian enriched uranium for 90 days after enactment, but will allow temporary exemptions until January 2028. The bill needs to be signed by US President Joe Biden before it becomes law.

The White House has called for a “long-term ban” on Russian imports to support the US uranium industry.

“This is a national security priority because reliance on Russian uranium resources poses a risk to the US economy and the civil nuclear industry, and Russia's war in Ukraine has further strained the US economy and the civilian nuclear industry,” the White House said in an information briefing earlier. “If no action is taken, Russia will continue to control the global uranium market to the detriment of America's allies and partners.”

This legislation expires at the end of 2040, but allows the US Department of Energy to exempt uranium imports from Russia until 2027.

Jonathan Hinze, president of the nuclear fuel market research company UXC, said that without these exemptions, the spot price of enriched uranium could rise about 20% from the current price of 165 US dollars/SWU to a record high of 200 US dollars.

Bloomberg believes that the import ban will take some time to affect operators of US nuclear power plants. Reactors are usually refueled every 18 to 24 months, and fuel purchases must be negotiated a long time in advance. This means that most utilities already have enough uranium in stock to keep their reactors running properly for at least the next few years.