Natural uranium supplies to nuclear utilities in the European Union continued to come from “diverse sources” in 2023 with 32.9% imported from Canada, an increase of 86.2% over 2022, and 23.4% from Russia, an increase of 72.6%, despite the need to diversify from Russian supply following Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

According to the Euratom Supply Agency’s (ESA) latest annual report, deliveries of natural uranium from Russia increased in 2023 as utilities stockpiled fuel for Russia-designed VVER nuclear plants.

The ESA, which is responsible for maintaining a regular and equitable supply of nuclear materials in Europe, said EU utilities continue to diversify their sources of nuclear fuel, particularly for VVER reactors, in a bid to reduce dependency on “single suppliers and designs or reduce high-risk supplies”.