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On Tuesday, local time, the Senate voted to pass a bill banning the import of enriched uranium from Russia and sending the bill to the White House for consideration.

The White House has previously expressed support for preventing Russia from delivering reactor fuel. Adopted by unanimous consentPokernightsnearmeThe Russian uranium Import Ban Act will ban the United States from importing Russian enriched uranium for 90 days after the bill is implemented, but will allow temporary exemptions until January 2028. The bill needs to be signed by Biden to become law.

Russia provides about 1/4 of the uranium enriched by more than 90 commercial reactors in the United States, making it the largest foreign supplier to the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. These sales are estimated to generate about $1 billion in revenue for Russia each year, but replacing this supply could face challenges and could lead to an increase in the cost of enriching uranium by about 20 per cent.

The White House said in a fact sheet earlier that a "long-term ban" on Russian imports was needed to unlock about $2.7 billion in funding provided by Congress earlier this year to set up a domestic uranium industry, but only on the condition that imports from Russia be restricted. The White House said: "reliance on Russian uranium sources poses risks to the US economy and the civilian nuclear industry, which is further pressured by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine." If no action is taken, Russia will continue to control the global uranium market, which will adversely affect the United States and its allies and partners. "

In December last year, the House of Representatives passed the bill by oral vote. The United States has banned imports of Russian oil and is working with G7 allies to impose price caps on Russian seaborne crude oil and petroleum products.

The legislation, which expires at the end of 2040, allows the Department of Energy to grant exemptions and authorize the import of the full volume of Russian uranium under the export limit set by 2027 under the anti-dumping agreement between the US Department of Commerce and Russia.

Without these exemptions, the spot price of the current separation work unit (SWU) of enriched uranium could jump about 20 per cent from $165a SWU to an all-time high of $200per SWU, according to Jonathan Hinze, president of UxC, a nuclear fuel market research firm. The unit of measurement of enriched uranium is the unit of separation work (SWU), which reflects the volume and concentration of radioactive metals.

If the United States bans imports, Russia may impose an export ban in response.

It will take some time for the import ban to have a real impact on US nuclear power plant operators. Reactors are usually refueled every 18 to 24 months, while fuel procurement requires negotiations long in advance. This means that most but not all utilities have stockpiled enough uranium to keep their reactors running, at least for the next few years.