Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko announced the country’s desire to increase uranium production in order to reduce Russia’s dominant influence on the world market for this strategic resource

Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko announced the country’s desire to increase uranium production in order to reduce Russia’s dominant influence on the world market for this strategic resource, reports NewsInfo.

Photo: “File:RIAN archive 132603 Nuclear power reactor fuel assembly.jpg” by Ruslan Krivobok / Ruslan Krivobok is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Galushchenko stressed that Russia still controls a significant share of the global uranium market, which makes it difficult to impose sanctions, since many companies have contracts with Russian uranium suppliers. However, Ukraine is persistently working to increase its share of the uranium market and develop its own uranium production on its territory.

German Galushchenko emphasized that uranium production is becoming an important component of Ukraine’s national security. This desire for self-sufficiency in the field of uranium production is confirmed by memorandums of understanding signed by Ukraine with foreign partners.

Recently, the Ukrainian company Energoatom entered into a memorandum of cooperation with the American ConverDyn, which will increase uranium production at the Eastern Mining and Processing Plant and create a plant for the conversion of natural uranium into uranium hexafluoride. This process is a key link for the development of the complete nuclear cycle.

It should be noted that Ukraine has never been a significant player in the global uranium market, while Rosatom took second place in the world in terms of uranium reserves after acquiring the Kazakh Budenovsky deposit.

Globally, uranium production increased by six percent in 2022, reaching 50,400 tons, and the top nine producers, including Rosatom, have key roles in the industry.