The US is stepping up efforts to expand its strategic uranium stockpile as Washington looks to shield nuclear power from supply risks tied to Russia and bolster domestic output.
Secretary of Energy Chris Wright told Bloomberg on Monday (September 15) that the Trump administration is determined to reduce US dependence on Russian-enriched uranium. It still accounts for about a quarter of the fuel used in America’s 94 nuclear reactors, which generate roughly 20 percent of the nation’s electricity.
“We’re moving to a place — and we’re not there yet — to no longer use Russian enriched uranium,” he said. “We hope to see rapid growth in uranium consumption in the US from both large reactors and small modular reactors. The size of that right buffer would grow with time. We need a lot of domestic uranium and enrichment capacity.”
The concept of a federal uranium reserve is not new. The first Trump administration sought US$150 million in 2020 to begin direct purchases from US producers, though Congress approved only half the request.
Former President Joe Biden later built on the plan, and in 2022 the Department of Energy awarded contracts to companies for hundreds of thousands of pounds of uranium.
Still, inventories of uranium remain thin by global standards.
US utilities hold an average of 14 months of uranium inventory, compared with 30 months in the EU and more than a decade’s worth in China, according to recent data from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Wright said the department is “furiously at work” to rebuild supply chains and reduce exposure to Moscow, which in late 2024 briefly restricted uranium exports to the US in retaliation for sanctions.
A law signed in May 2024 requires US utilities to phase out Russian uranium by 2028. Wright did not specify how much additional material the reserve should hold, but suggested growth would be calibrated to reactor construction.
On the processing side, the US currently relies on just two commercial enrichment plants.
According to Bloomberg, the larger facility, operated by the Urenco Group consortium in New Mexico, provides fuel for traditional light-water reactors. In Ohio, Centrus Energy (NYSE:LEU) recently began producing high-assay low-enriched uranium, a material required for advanced reactors now under development.
Global competition for nuclear fuel
The US push comes as other major powers also move to secure uranium.
China recently announced the discovery of a large uranium deposit in the Tarim Basin at a depth of 1,820 meters, the deepest sandstone-type find on record for the country.
State-owned China National Nuclear said the deposit was identified through deep drilling and geological modeling, and will support Beijing’s effort to reduce imports as it builds out the world’s fastest-growing nuclear fleet.
Sandstone deposits are relatively cheap to exploit, making them attractive for fueling large-scale expansion.
China National Nuclear said the find strengthens its domestic resource base as China seeks to underpin an ambitious nuclear program designed to meet rising electricity demand and cut carbon emissions.
For the Trump administration, its uranium strategy is part of its effort to revive the domestic nuclear industry, which has struggled with high costs and competition from natural gas and renewables.
Recent executive orders from the White House call for strengthening domestic fuel supply chains and investing in workforce development to ensure the sector remains competitive.
While the US once dominated nuclear technology, years of underinvestment left fuel production concentrated in Russia and, to a lesser degree, Europe. Officials now see that dependence as a strategic liability at a time when energy security is increasingly bound up with geopolitical rivalry.
Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.