Europe's Russian Uranium Reliance Grew 7% in 2025, Sprott Report Finds
Key Takeaways
- •Russian uranium deliveries to European Union utilities increased by 7% in 2025, according to a new report from Sprott Asset Management.
- •Russian nuclear fuel has remained largely exempt from EU sanctions despite measures targeting Russian coal, oil and gas, though the European Commission proposed a phase-out of Russian nuclear fuel imports in May 2025 that requires member-state approval.
- •Nuclear power supplies roughly a quarter of the EU's electricity, and several member states including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Finland operate Russian-designed VVER reactors that have historically run on Rosatom fuel.
- •Western enrichment capacity is concentrated in Urenco and France's Orano, both of which have announced expansions that will take years to bring online.
- •The United States signed a ban on Russian uranium imports into law in May 2024, with waivers permitting continued imports through 2027 where alternative supply is unavailable.
Europe's reliance on Russian nuclear fuel increased in 2025 despite efforts to diversify uranium supply following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Sprott Asset Management said in a new report this week.
Russian uranium deliveries to European Union utilities rose by 7% in 2025, according to the report.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and European governments have since sought to reduce their dependence on Russian energy. While the EU has imposed sanctions on Russian coal, oil and gas, Russian nuclear fuel has remained largely exempt from equivalent bloc-wide measures, though in May 2025 the European Commission proposed phasing out imports of Russian nuclear fuel, a step that would require member-state approval.
The stakes are significant: nuclear power supplies roughly a quarter of the EU's electricity, and several member states — including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Finland — operate Russian-designed VVER reactors that have historically run on Rosatom fuel. Western suppliers Westinghouse and Framatome have developed alternative fuel for some of these units as part of broader diversification efforts.
Russia's state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, is among the world's largest suppliers of uranium conversion and enrichment services. These stages of the nuclear fuel cycle — in which mined uranium is converted into uranium hexafluoride gas and then enriched before fuel fabrication — involve a limited number of suppliers operating at global scale. Western enrichment capacity is concentrated in Urenco and France's Orano, both of which have announced expansions that will take years to bring online.
In the United States, a ban on imports of Russian uranium was signed into law in May 2024. The legislation includes waivers permitting imports to continue through 2027 in cases where alternative supply is unavailable, reflecting similar constraints on substituting Russian enrichment capacity.
Sprott Asset Management, part of Toronto-based Sprott Inc., is an asset manager known for its physical uranium holdings.
Source: The Northern Miner
