Working group report advises US government uranium purchases

Washington — US government purchases of $150 million a year of domestic uranium remains the primary short-term action called for in a government report the US Department of Energy released Thursday.

The government should support the US nuclear industry by buying domestically produced uranium and promoting US nuclear technology exports, the report, by the administration's Nuclear Fuel Working Group, said.

"The U.S. Government will take bold action to revive and strengthen the uranium mining industry, support uranium conversion services, end reliance on foreign uranium enrichment capabilities, and sustain the current fleet," the report summary said.

The report highlighted the Trump administration's plan, announced with its fiscal 2021 budget request in February, to create a uranium reserve funded with $150 million a year for 10 years. The report suggested that plan could be further expanded but said that "no commitment has been made to take action beyond the Uranium Reserve proposed in the FY 21 Budget, which addresses the sectors most imminently at risk."

Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said Thursday in a briefing call that "America is on the brink of losing its ability to produce US-origin nuclear fuel," it added.

US uranium producers have effectively stopped mining the material as prices have declined. Most of the uranium US nuclear operators use is from Australia, Canada, and Kazakhstan.

The new uranium stockpile, if created, would support the operation of at least two US uranium mines and a uranium conversion facility, ensuring "there is a backup supply of uranium in the event of a significant market disruption," DOE said in February.

The report said it supports continuing limits on enriched uranium imports from Russia and suggested that plans to import nuclear fuel from Russia and China should be blocked.

The US must retain its historic leadership in nuclear technology, which has eroded in recent years as state-owned Russian and Chinese companies have built the bulk of new reactors, the report said.

The report noted the US "is missing out on a nuclear reactor market that ... is valued at $500 billion-$740 billion over the next 10 years."

Nuclear Energy Institute President and CEO Maria Korsnick said Thursday in a statement that "more actions should be taken to preserve the plants operating today, and we will continue to work with Congress to ensure the industry is included in legislative proposals for tax credits and other incentives to the energy sector."

The report included no mention of those tax credits.

Last year, Trump rejected a 2018 petition from US producers Energy Fuels and Ur-Energy to the US Department of Commerce to protect them from foreign uranium imports.

Brouillette said the president recognized that "this issue is much, much bigger than miners in the western US."

The working group's report is "only a roadmap," providing options for uranium supply sources to US nuclear reactor operators, Brouillette said.

President Donald Trump established the Nuclear Fuel Working Group last year to issue recommendations to revitalize domestic uranium mining and nuclear energy.