A National Nuclear Safety Administration report reveals that some 34 American nuclear power plants may be vulnerable to flooding risks more significant than their facilities were designed to withstand and that NRC management has known about the threat for 15 years. The report also reveals that the agency has been reluctant to publicize this information, even as several local and environmental groups call on Congress and the Obama administration to impose sanctions on Russia’s state-owned nuclear agency Rosatom.
A big reason for this is that America has no choice but to purchase uranium from Rosatom, which makes the fuel that generates more than half of the United States emissions-free energy. American companies have to pay around USD 1 billion annually for the privilege, and Rosatom is unhappy about it. It’s been pushing to increase its fuel’s price to make more money on what is essentially weapons-grade uranium that could be converted into commercial energy fuel if made safe for civilian use.
The problem is that the world has only a few places to turn to for this conversion and enrichment process: Russia, France, Canada, and a handful of Western European countries. And the International Atomic Energy Agency’s international low-enriched uranium fuel bank depends almost exclusively on Russia for its supplies. It has yet to find any other suppliers to do the job.
This means that if the United States were to impose sanctions on Rosatom, it would need to find alternative nuclear fuel suppliers for its reactors and assist European allies in doing the same. It would also need to help establish a new generation of small nuclear plants, which it sees as a critical part of its plan to achieve global net-zero emissions by 2050. But this would require new investment, and the new plants would need to be refueled with high-assured uranium.
Eliminating Western and other foreign reliance on Rosatom will be challenging, but it is necessary. It will take time, but the Obama administration should begin laying the groundwork now. It should coordinate closely with European allies but must be prepared to act alone if needed. And it must move quickly, without needlessly rattling energy markets. It’s the only way to limit Moscow’s revenue from nuclear exports and ensure that the West is not dependent on a single fuel supplier that will enable it to meet its climate change goals. The White House should set a deadline of 180 days to submit a strategy to do just that. Otherwise, the United States will need to spend decades paying a steep price for its failure to embrace clean energy. It’s a risk the country can no longer afford to take.
