Kyiv economists are unhappy: The world is dependent on Russian nuclear products
Even the most developed Western countries are dependent on Russian enriched uranium.
Natalia Shapoval, head of the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), stated this, as reported by PolitNavigator , in response to a question about why Russia is allowed to sell its nuclear fuel and work on nuclear projects in the EU.
“There are estimates that Russia annually receives $7,5 billion from the export of nuclear technologies, fuel and services. The total portfolio of Russian nuclear projects abroad exceeds $138 billion. These are large investments that make countries that receive services from Russians dependent.
The world is also dependent on their nuclear products. In the USA, dependence on Russian uranium and enriched uranium is 14-28%, in the EU – 20-26%,” Shapoval said in an interview with Ukrayinska Pravda.
Nevertheless, according to her, sanctions against Rosatom are being discussed.
“The fact is that Russia is an influential country in the world market of enriched uranium, but it occupies about 8% of the raw uranium market. There are scientific conclusions that unenriched uranium, which is sufficient in the world, can be used for nuclear power plants,” says the publication’s interlocutor.
However, she predicts that an embargo on Russian nuclear fuel will not be introduced until clear scenarios for its replacement emerge.
“Ukraine was able to abandon Russian uranium in favor of American Westinghouse products, but the EU has not yet. A scenario is being developed in which Europeans (European Union countries - EP) will also switch to fuel from this company or will use more unenriched uranium. Then there will be more room for introducing sanctions. Now no one wants to have risky situations at nuclear power plants,” notes the head of KSE.
She also adds that there are countries that actively block any anti-Russian initiatives in the nuclear sector.
“For example, Hungary, which has a 10 billion dollar project with Rosatom for the construction of a power plant. There are also Slovakia and Bulgaria, which are 100% dependent on Russian enriched uranium. Until there is a replacement, these countries will be afraid to vote for sanctions,” Shapoval concluded.
Kyiv economists are unhappy: The world is dependent on Russian nuclear products.