The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Thursday has announced plans to purchase up to $2.7 billion worth of domestically-supplied enriched uranium.
This effort aims to strengthen the supply chain for nuclear reactor fuel and reduce reliance on Russian imports.
The initiative follows President Joe Biden’s legislation signed in May, which also bans enriched uranium imports from Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine. Russia previously supplied about 24% of the fuel used by U.S. reactors.
The DOE intends to award two or more contracts lasting up to 10 years, depending on funding availability.
According to Reuters, these contracts could benefit companies like Centrus Energy and Urenco, which operates in New Mexico. Proposals for the contracts are due on August 26.
“DOE is helping jumpstart uranium enrichment capacity here in the United States, which is critical to strengthening our national security and growing our domestic nuclear industry,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
Centrus spokesperson Lindsey Geisler remarked, “This request for proposal is a critical step toward restoring America’s nuclear fuel supply chain with U.S. technology built by American workers. We look forward to submitting a compelling and competitive proposal to do just that.”
