Centrus Energy has received a waiver from the US Department of Energy (DOE) allowing it to import low-enriched uranium (LEU) from Russia for delivery to US customers in 2024 and 2025.

The Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act was signed by President Joe Biden in May, after being passed unanimously by the US Senate and will go into effect on 11 August. It bans the import of unirradiated, LEU that is produced in the Russian Federation or by a Russian entity. The ban will remain in place until the end of 2040.

The waiver process was put in place to ensure US NPPs do not face supply disruptions while the US works to build up its domestic LEU capacity. According to the US Energy Information Administration, Russia has been supplying about 24% of enriched uranium used to fuel the US fleet of 94 commercial reactors with 12% coming from Germany and 11% from the UK. and 27% produced in the US. DOE says Russia has roughly 44% of the world’s uranium enrichment capacity and supplies approximately 35% of US imports for nuclear fuel. The only commercial enrichment operation in the US is Urenco’s facility in New Mexico which began operations in 2010, Urenco is jointly owned by the UK, Germany and the Netherlands.

Waivers to allow the import of limited quantities of Russian-origin material may be granted by the US Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Commerce, if it is determined that no alternative viable source of LEU is available, or that the importation of Russian LEU is in the national interest. Waivers will only be available until 1 January 2028,

Centrus filed its first waiver request application – covering deliveries from 11 August 2024 to the end of 2027 – on 27 May. DOE has issued a waiver allowing it to import LEU from Russia “for deliveries already committed by the Company to its US customers in years 2024 and 2025,” the company said in a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Centrus said DOE has deferred a decision on 2026 and 2027 to “an unspecified date closer in time to the deliveries”.

A decision from DOE is still awaited for a second waiver application to allow the importation of LEU from Russia for processing and re-export to Centrus’s foreign customers. The application was filed on 7 June. Centrus also plans to file a third waiver request application to allow for importation of LEU from Russia in 2026 and 2027 for use in the USA. This would be for deliveries that have yet to be committed to customers.