US bans Russian-origin enriched uranium imports (Public Law 118-50)

Mechanism

The act bans all US imports of Russian-produced LEU (and LEU produced by Russian state entity TENEX/Rosatom subsidiaries regardless of country of export origin). At the time of enactment, Russia supplied roughly 24% of US nuclear utility uranium enrichment needs, making it the single largest foreign supplier. The waiver window through 2027 was intended to give utilities time to contract alternative enrichment from URENCO (UK/EU/US), Orano (France), and emerging US domestic capacity (CENTRUS centrifuge facility, Ohio).

The $2.72B authorisation to expand domestic LEU and high-assay LEU (HALEU) enrichment capacity was the paired supply-side measure. HALEU (19.75% U-235) is required for most small modular reactor (SMR) designs currently under development; Russia had been the only commercial HALEU supplier.

Downstream implications

• US nuclear utilities required to accelerate contracting with

non-Russian enrichers (URENCO USA, Orano, NAC International).

• HALEU supply remains constrained through at least 2026; SMR

deployment timelines are sensitive to this.

• CENTRUS's Piketon, Ohio cascade is the only US domestic LEU/HALEU

enrichment production point; the funding authorisation is intended to scale it.

• Russia's Rosatom retains EU long-term supply contracts not covered

by this act (EU has not matched the US ban as of action date).

Open questions

• Whether DOE waiver usage will extend the effective phase-out date

past the nominal 2027 cutoff.

• EU response: if the EU separately bans Russian uranium imports,

combined pressure on Rosatom's export revenue would be material.

• HALEU shortage impact on the DOE-backed SMR pipeline

(TerraPower, Kairos, X-energy).