The US House voted on Monday (12 December) to approve legislation that would bar the importation of low-enriched Russian uranium.
The Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act would make it illegal to import low-enriched uranium, which is used in nuclear fuel, 90 days after the bill becomes law.
It would also allow for a waiver if “no alternative viable source of low-enriched uranium is available to sustain the continued operation of a nuclear reactor or a United States nuclear energy company”.
Russia provided almost a quarter of the enriched uranium used to fuel the US’s fleet of 93 nuclear plants, making it the number one foreign supplier to the US last year, according to the US Department of Energy.