Nuclear Fuel: Sanctions Slow Russian EUP Transports

Russian exports of nuclear fuel to the EU and the US have continued since Russian troops invaded Ukraine last February, but various Western sanctions regimes have made transporting Russian enriched uranium product (EUP) incredibly difficult, even if they don't specifically target nuclear materials. Empty nuclear fuel cylinders to be returned to Russia have been piling up at US fuel fabrication facilities since Canada imposed a new set of sanctions on Russian transport last August. This in turn has created a shortage of these cylinders in Russia. While a solution is in sight, this problem has complicated nuclear fuel transport in a climate already adverse to the shipment of Class 7 radioactive materials, and a shortage of transport cylinders is already slowing further exports of Russian EUP, including a large shipment to China.