America’s Nuclear Power Woes: US Uranium Enrichment Capacity Years Behind Russia's

This week, the Biden administration has announced its intention to enhance America's domestic uranium enrichment capabilities and reduce the nation's reliance on imported enriched uranium shipments.

The White House stated in a fact sheet released earlier this week that improving the uranium enrichment capabilities of the United States is a “national security priority,” citing the country’s current dependence on uranium supplied by Russia.

“Without action, Russia will continue its hold on the global uranium market to the detriment of U.S. allies and partners,” the White House stated, adding that a “long-term ban on enriched uranium product imports” from Russia to the US would be required for this initiative to succeed.

This situation essentially highlights the fact that America's enrichment capabilities are not particularly well-developed, and that the US nuclear energy industry lags far behind those of Russia and, for example, France, says Valeriy Menshikov, member of the public council of Russia’s state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom.

“This is why we, Russia, still supply them with enriched uranium, and this is why these shipments are not being targeted by any sanctions,” he remarked.

According to Menshikov, Russia’s current uranium enrichment capabilities – the highly advanced centrifuges that America “hasn’t yet learned how to make” – is something the United States is yet to match.

“So they will have to work with less economically-viable equipment, thereby necessitating greater power consumption, and they will have to pay for it,” he said, pointing out that the enrichment process requires a significant amount of energy to power all the centrifuges involved in it.

He noted that the US will essentially have to pay for its past decision to abandon the development of advanced centrifuges for uranium enrichment and instead “make contracts with us (i.e. Russia).”

“To bridge this gap would be a no small feat. I think we are not talking a year or two here – more like decades, maybe,” Menshikov speculated.

It also seems quite likely that the $2.2 billion the Biden administration currently intends to sink into this endeavor would be enough only to begin the process of bringing America's domestic uranium enrichment capabilities on par with that of Russia, and that would require even bigger investments, he contended.