Updated 03.09.2026. Text based on Bellona's Report "ROSATOM 2025 (the war, energy and global activity)" chapter "Nuclear fuel supplies for VVER reactors to EU countries"

For more than 30 years, the US has actively purchased up to 25% of its required enriched uranium from Russia and has been the largest buyer of this material from Russia. For Rosatom, the U.S. accounts for up to 50% of its export sales of uranium enrichment services, generating around $1 billion annually.

According to US customs statistics (US Census Bureau [1]) analyzed by Bellona, in 2025 the United States imported 400.3 tonnes of enriched uranium from Russia worth $1,026.8 million. Compared to 2024 (334.9 tonnes and $623.7 million), physical volumes increased by about 19.5%, while total value rose by 64.6%. The main driver of the increase in value was higher prices: the average price rose from approximately $1.86 million to $2.56 million per tonne (around +37.7%). Thus, about 60% of the increase in import value was due to price growth and about 40% to higher volumes.

Our analysis shows that while in 2022 and 2023 Russia was the largest supplier of enriched uranium to the United States (accounting for 24–27% of total imports), in subsequent years it lost this position to European competitors. In 2024, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and France (each individually) supplied at least as much uranium to the U.S. as Russia, whose share fell to 14% in volume terms and 18% in value.

In 2025, the share of Russian supplies to the US rose again to 24.5% of total imports (both in volume and value), though this still lagged behind the UK, which accounted for 32% of US enriched uranium imports. Overall, EU countries and the UK together account for at least 70% of all enriched uranium imported into the US.

According to ImportYeti [2], which aggregates maritime customs declarations in the US, the main end recipients of Russian enriched uranium in 2025 were Framatome subsidiaries (over 127 tonnes), Global Nuclear Fuel Americas (over 110 tonnes), and Westinghouse (around 27 tonnes).

In 2024, the US adopted a law banning imports of Russian enriched uranium starting in 2028. Until the end of 2027, purchases in limited volumes are allowed subject to approval by the US Department of Energy. The limits set by the law (476.5 tonnes in 2024 and 470.4 tonnes in 2025) were not exceeded.

The adoption of the law also enabled the U.S. Department of Energy to secure additional funding to develop and support the domestic uranium industry. By December 2024, the Department selected six companies eligible for contracts to supply low-enriched uranium (LEU), aimed at stimulating the construction of new domestic production capacity. In addition to US firms, the selected companies include the American subsidiaries of the European companies Urenco and Orano. The Department plans to procure LEU produced at new facilities or through expansion projects at existing plants. Contracts will run for up to 10 years, with a total maximum value of $3.4 billion.[3]

On January 5, 2026, the US Department of Energy announced the allocation of $2.7 billion [4] to develop domestic uranium enrichment services over the next ten years.

Two companies—American Centrifuge Operating (a subsidiary of Centrus Energy) and General Matter—will each receive $900 million to establish capacity for the production of HALEU [5]. The first new production facilities [6] by Centrus are expected to be commissioned in 2029 and will be used to produce both LEU and HALEU. In August 2025, General Matter signed a lease agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy to build [7] an enrichment facility at the site of the former gaseous diffusion plant in Paducah, Kentucky. Construction is expected to begin in 2026, with commissioning planned by the end of the decade.

Another $900 million has been allocated [8] by the US Department of Energy to Orano Federal Services to expand domestic LEU production capacity. Earlier, in 2024, Orano Federal Services was included in the list of six companies selected [9] by the Department of Energy as potential participants in tenders for LEU supply. In 2024, Orano USA also announced plans to build163 a centrifuge uranium enrichment plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee—the $5 billion Project IKE.164 Production is scheduled to begin in 2031.

At the same time, outside federal support programs, the main producer of enriched uranium in the United States (covering about 30% of domestic demand), Urenco USA—a subsidiary of the European consortium Urenco—completed another stage of expansion of its enrichment plant in New Mexico [10] ahead of schedule in September 2025, launching a second cascade of new centrifuges. The first stage of expansion had been completed in May of the same year.[11]

The expansion plan for the U.S. facility, initiated in July 2023, [12] envisages increasing plant capacity by 15% by 2027, adding approximately 700,000 separative work units (SWU).

Thus, with federal government support, the United States is actively stimulating the expansion of its uranium enrichment industry in order to eliminate dependence on Russia.

References:

1. US Census Bureau. USA Trade Online. (Accessed: May 14, 2026.) https://usatradeonline.census.gov/home

2. ImportYeti. (Accessed: May 14, 2026.) https://www.importyeti.com

3. Bellona, April 25, 2025. Rosatom in the war years of 2023 and 2024. (Accessed: May 14, 2026.) https://etc.bellona.org/publication/rosatom-in-the-war-years/

4. U.S. Department of Energy, January 5, 2026. U.S. Department of Energy awards $2.7 billion to restore American uranium enrichment. (Accessed: May 14, 2026.) https://www.energy.gov/articles/us-department-energy-awards-27-billion-restore-american-uranium-enrichment

5. Bellona, March 6, 2026. Bellona Nuclear Digest. January 2026 [in Russian]. (Accessed: May 14, 2026.) https://ru.bellona.org/2026/03/06/nuclear-digest-01-26/

6. Centrus, June 1, 2025. Centrus awarded $900 million to expand uranium enrichment in Ohio. (Accessed: May 14, 2026.) https://www.centrusenergy.com/news/centrus-awarded-900-million-to-expand-uranium-enrichment-in-ohio/

7. U.S. Department of Energy, August 5, 2025. Energy Department turns liabilities into assets — unleashing a new nuclear renaissance. (Accessed: May 14, 2026.) https://www.energy.gov/em/articles/energy-department-turns-liabilities-assets-unleashing-new-nuclear-renaissance

8. Orano Group, January 5, 2026. Orano selected for U.S. Department of Energy $900M energy security funding to produce low-enriched uranium with a new American uranium enrichment facility. (Accessed: May 14, 2026.) https://www.orano.group/usa/en/our-news/news-releases/2026/orano-selected-for-DOE-900m-funding-LEU-new-american-uranium-enrichment-facility

9. Bellona, February 3, 2025. Bellona Nuclear Digest. November–December 2024 [in Russian]. (Accessed: May 14, 2026.) https://ru.bellona.org/2025/02/03/nuclear-digest-11-12-24/#06p

10. Urenco USA, September 10, 2025. Urenco USA expands U.S. enrichment capacity with second new cascade. (Accessed: May 14, 2026.) https://www.urenco.com/news/usa/2025/urenco-usa-expands-u.s-enrichment-capacity-with-second-new-cascade

11. Urenco USA, May 19, 2025. Urenco USA starts up first phase of new U.S. enrichment capacity. (Accessed: May 14, 2026.) https://urencousa.com/news/sustainability/2025/urenco-usa-starts-up-first-phase-of-new-u.s-enrichment-capacity

12. Bellona, August 11, 2023. Bellona Nuclear Digest. July 2023 [in Russian]. (Accessed: May 14, 2026.) https://ru.bellona.org/2023/08/11/atomic-digest-07-23/#04p