As tensions rise between superpowers, Russia halted the supply of enriched uranium to fuel U.S. reactors. Now, utilities are scrambling. By Avi Salzman
Escalating tensions between Russia and the U.S. over the Ukraine war pose serious implications for global security. Those tensions are also affecting an important source of U.S. electricity: nuclear power plants.
On Nov. 14, Russia pulled the export license for the company that sends enriched uranium to the U.S. for use in nuclear reactors. For now, it looks like all shipments of enriched Russian uranium, which accounts for 40% of the global supply, are stalled. It's not clear if or when they'll be back again.
Uranium prices and stocks of uranium miners have spiked on the news. Shares of U.S. miner Uranium Energy are up 14%, and Canadian miner Cameco, 11%, since Russia halted shipments. Centrus Energy, which imports Russian uranium for use by U.S. utilities, fell initially but has since rebounded.
Other kinds of nuclear companies could also face challenges.
Citi analyst Arkady Gevorkyan wrote in a recent note that a shortage of certain kinds of enriched Russian uranium "could pose significant risks for a ramp up of small modular reactors in the US." Small modular reactors, which are designed to be cheaper to build than conventional large reactors, don't yet exist in the U.S. -- but companies like Oklo and Nuscale are working on them.
The Russian ban doesn't mean that America's 94 existing nuclear reactors will stop working immediately. They have supplies of enriched uranium stored up. The future of U.S. nuclear plants could be in jeopardy, however, if imports from Russia are banned indefinitely and the U.S. can't develop a domestic uranium supply chain.
Centrus, which is based in Bethesda, Maryland, said on Monday that it had received notice from Russian uranium exporter Tenex that Tenex's license to export uranium to the U.S. had been revoked by the Russian government. While Tenex is trying to get the license reinstated, "there is no certainty whether such licenses will be issued by the Russian authorities and if issued, whether they will be issued in a timely manner," Centrus said in a regulatory filing.
The news isn't entirely surprising. The U.S. technically banned Russian uranium earlier this year, but had allowed for waivers of the ban for years with the understanding that nuclear reactor operators had few other options.
While uranium itself is relatively abundant, there are just a few providers of enriched uranium, which is produced by converting uranium oxide into a gas and then using centrifuges or other devices to increase the useful percentage of uranium. America has almost no domestic enrichment capacity anymore, relying largely on European and Russian suppliers. For about 30 years, Russia has capably filled the need, but that's no longer a given. The price of enriching uranium has gone up roughly 300% since the Russia-Ukraine war started, says John Ciampaglia, CEO of Sprott Asset Management, which owns uranium exchange-traded funds.
"It does put some utilities at heightened risk," he said in an interview with Barron's. "It's kind of ironic to us that the world's largest consumer of uranium's entire fuel supply chain is largely dependent on foreign countries -- some of which are allies, some of which are not."
Ciampaglia thinks Centrus could have to use force majeure, a legal method meant to stop enforcement of a contract's terms, in its contracts with utilities. In response, Centrus spokeswoman wrote in an email that "we will be in communication with our customers whose pending orders may be affected and are assessing actions to mitigate adverse impacts."
One utility that relies on enriched Russian uranium is Constellation Energy, which owns more nuclear plants than any other U.S. operator. Constellation spokesman Paul Adams said that the company has been expecting this move since the start of the war, and has thus stockpiled "enough fuel to power our operations into 2029 and have entered into contracts for these services far into the 2030s."
The U.S. government is helping fund companies like Centrus to expand enrichment capacity in the future, a process that utilities clearly hope takes hold soon. Centrus is starting to push ahead: the company announced on Wednesday it will invest an additional $60 million in expanding its enrichment capacity in Ohio over the next 18 months.
"It is critical to our national security and our energy security that we move immediately to revitalize our domestic uranium conversion and enrichment capabilities to ensure an uninterrupted supply of fuel for nuclear plants that serve as the nation's largest and most reliable supply of carbon-free electricity," Adams wrote.
Write to Avi Salzman at avi.salzman@barrons.com
To subscribe to Barron's, visit http://www.barrons.com/subscribe
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 22, 2024 21:30 ET (02:30 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments