WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Trump administration officials on Thursday recommended granting U.S. energy regulators the ability to block imports of nuclear fuel from Russia and China and detailed plans for setting up a government stockpile of uranium sourced from domestic miners.
The recommendations are meant to address growing concern in Washington that the United States has ceded its global leadership in nuclear technology in recent decades, and to boost domestic nuclear power producers and uranium miners suffering from a lack of investment.
Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette told reporters on a call that the report from the Nuclear Fuel Working Group was a “road map for what we think needs to be done to not only revitalize but re-establish American leadership in this entire industry.”
President Donald Trump created the working group last July after rejecting a request by two U.S. uranium mining companies, Energy Fuels Inc [UUUU.A] and Ur-Energy Inc [URG.A], seeking quotas for domestic uranium production to protect them against foreign competition.
The report recommended enabling the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to deny imports of certain uranium supplies from Russia and China for national security purposes.
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