Uranium Tariffs Threaten Nuclear Plants Trump Is Trying to Save
- U.S. to probe whether imports are threat to national security
- Tariffs on imports ‘would drive up the price of uranium’
Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
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The Trump administration’s decision to consider tariffs on uranium imports may raise the cost of fuel for nuclear reactors and undermine a separate initiative to shore up struggling electricity generators.
The Commerce Department said Wednesday it will probe whether uranium imports “threaten to impair” national security. U.S. miners Energy Fuels Inc. and Ur-Energy Inc., which requested the probe in January, want 25 percent of the domestic market reserved for U.S. producers. Domestic companies supply less than 5 percent of U.S. consumption and would need about three years to ramp up production to meet that target.