War in Ukraine Might Just Kickstart a Nuclear Energy Renaissance
The dollar-and-cents argument for revitalizing the industry doesn’t stand up, but cutting a dependence on Russian imports is compelling.
A nuclear power plant in Crystal River, Florida.
Photographer: Christian Monterrosa/Bloomberg
Climate change is supposed to be the catalyst for the long-elusive US nuclear power renaissance, but the war in Ukraine may provide the motivation instead. Not the most inspiring comeback story, granted, but the industry will take it after this long in the wilderness.
As the first year of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s weekend war was drawing to a close, uranium was trading at about $50 per pound. However, as I noted here, talk of a US ban on imports of nuclear fuel from Russia held the potential to boost that significantly. Fast forward to May 2024 and, with fighting still raging in Ukraine, and uranium now going for more than $90, the ban is here. Come early August, imports of low-enriched uranium — the kind used in conventional nuclear plants — from Russia will be blocked by the newly enacted Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act.