Russia’s Rosatom will be a target for more sanctions

Significance On May 13, US President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan draft bill called the Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act (PRUIA). The bill ends Washington’s historical dependence on uranium supplied by Russia’s state-owned nuclear monopoly Rosatom, which dates back to the early 1990s. Congress has appropriated USD2.7bn to expand US-based uranium enrichment and conversion activities. Impacts Rosatom’s control over the Zaporizhiya nuclear power plant in occupied Ukraine exposes it to additional regulatory risks in the West. US secondary sanctions on Rosatom could jeopardise multiple ongoing projects in developing countries, including India and China. Rosatom’s eventual retaliatory move to stop US-bound uranium supplies would cause a spike in the global market.