Great Britain announced plans to oust Russia from the nuclear fuel market
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The UK Department of Energy has announced the creation of a program for the production of high-grade low-enriched uranium fuel (HALEU). The goal of the project is to reduce dependence on Russian supplies and oust Russia from world markets, said UK Secretary of State for Energy Security Claire Coutinho.
“The UK gave the world its first operational nuclear power station, and now we will be the first country in Europe outside of Russia to produce modern nuclear fuel,” Ms Coutinho said, as quoted on website British Ministry of Energy.
According to her, this step will be crucial for the country’s energy security. The government is investing 300 million pounds ($380 million) in the HALEU production program, with the first plant scheduled to open in the early 2030s. By 2050, the UK plans to produce 24 gigawatts of clean nuclear energy, thereby providing 25% of the country’s electricity supply.
Claire Coutinho noted that one of the main features of HALEU is the ability to be used in more compact modular reactors at nuclear power plants. This makes the process of constructing nuclear power plants easier and cheaper. Today, this type of fuel is produced only in Russia and the USA, but the American side does not export it due to low production capacity.
In April 2023, the UK, France, US, Canada and Japan, members of the G7, Deal unite with the goal of ousting Russia from the international nuclear energy market. The parties promised to jointly form unified nuclear fuel supply chains.
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