Enriched Uranium from Techsnabexport, a state-owned nuclear energy company.
Purchasing the uranium directly from the uranium supplier gives Russia the opportunity for their energy companies to come into the U.S. market and be a huge influence in the U.S. energy sector for the next several decades.
U.S. attempts to discourage foreign countries from acquiring uranium enrichment programs themselves, believing this approach will be less effective as a result of this change to purchasing directly from the supplier.
North Korea and Iran are of great concern to the United States because they could use the sale of uranium from Russia in the pursuit of their own enrichment programs. Iran has demonstrated an interest in such an enrichment program and is facing sanctions from the United Nations now because of it. North Korea has the same ambitions and carried out a nuclear test recently. Atomic weapons need an enriched type of uranium that has a density of 90%. In nature uranium has a make up of 3% and 9%, so it must be enriched in order to fuel nuclear submarines and atomic weapons. European and Asian countries have been supplied for many years by Russia because of a buildup from the Cold War and has a 40% lead in world enrichment capacity.
The United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) is a program that was designed to eliminate nuclear weapons by circumventing enriched uranium from Russia, who is the United State's biggest supplier.
The USEC was sold by the U.S. Department of Energy to a private company and overlooked the corporation being a monopoly of diluted weapons-grade uranium sales from Russia. Commercially conscripted uranium is now sold by Techsnabexport and various other Russian corporations. Weapons-grade uranium sales , even though diluted, must be certified and examined by the USEC.
As the need for clean, renewable energy sources continues to rise, Russia, which provides 50% of all the uranium in the United States civilian reactors, will be a top supplier in a growing industry that will only continue to grow by leaps and bounds as long as clean energy is in demand.
Nuclear power plants generate 70% of the United States clean energy (non- Fossil Fuel eg.carbon). There are at present, 104 plants operating today and one under construction.
Nuclear power plants are here to stay despite some controversy regarding their safety and issues surrounding the cost of building, operating and disposal of nuclear waste. Clean, renewable energy is in demand and nuclear energy is the best resource we have today to meet that demand.
The U.S. Senate is beginning to show a substantial amount of support for nuclear power. President Barack Obama's administration supports renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower , though the president is pro-nuclear.
Several hearings will begin this week at a conference dealing with loan financing, nuclear waste and labor. Senate republicans hope to address some key points regarding the building of new nuclear plants to meet the growing demand for clean energy.
