The EU has so far failed to reach consensus on the issue of imposing sanctions on Rosatom, the flagship of the Russian nuclear industry. Moreover, a number of European nations even increased imports of Russian nuclear fuel and uranium, including Hungary, Bulgaria, Finland, and France. In total, in Europe there are 16 reactors running on Russian nuclear fuel, and the Kremlin skillfully exploits this dependence to achieve its political goals and finance a war of conquest against Ukraine.
Ukraine became the world’s first country that managed to use nuclear fuel produced by U.S.-based Westinghouse in its VVER-440 reactor installed at the Rivne NPP alongside Russian fuel. Such a progressive solution is necessary in order to abandon Russian-made nuclear fuel. It should be noted that it was implemented despite the adverse conditions of a full-scale war that a terrorist state is waging against Ukraine. Against this background, the increase in purchases of Russian nuclear fuel by some EU member states (this year, they acquired 30% more Russian fuel and uranium on average against 2021) looks like a deliberate effort to undermine EU’s interests. Meanwhile, Rosatom was never sanctioned and now maintains its stable position in the European market, filling the Russian coffers at the expense of European taxpayers. That’s despite the fact that it turns out to be not so difficult to abandon Russian nuclear fuel: there is an affordable and more modernized American analogue. All that is required is political will and a short transition period.
A number of EU countries, in particular Hungary, have been boycotting sanctions against Rosatom. This is a conscious promotion of Russian national interests that pose a threat to Europe. The dependence of the European nuclear sector on Russian raw materials allows the Kremlin to manipulate European politicians, and ultimately weaken Europe, making it vulnerable to the whole spectrum of Russian threats. Consequently, a violation of pan-European unity is one of those hybrid threats that splits the civilizational monolith of Western democracies. Comprehensive sanctions against Rosatom involving its complete ousting from the European market must be seen as a priority task for European officials.