EU's Nuclear Fuel Stance Blurs Investment Picture for Uranium Enrichment
Urenco's CEO warns that the EU's unresolved position on Russian nuclear fuel is stalling investments in European enrichment capacity.
The European Union's failure to decide on banning Russian nuclear fuel is creating a fog of uncertainty that is holding back investment in the bloc's uranium enrichment industry, according to the head of one of the world's largest enrichment firms.
Boris Schucht, CEO of Urenco, said that while the UK and the US have provided clear policy direction, Europe has not. "We need political guidance of what societies want from us. In Europe, that is missing," he said in an interview, adding that this ambiguity is directly costing the continent investment.
More than four years after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian nuclear fuel remains exempt from EU import bans and sanctions, even as the bloc has restricted Russian oil and gas. The European Commission announced in May 2025 that it would propose a phase-out of Russian nuclear fuel, but no formal proposal has been tabled since.
A Commission spokesperson said work on measures targeting Russian nuclear energy is "ongoing" and reiterated the body's determination to phase out all Russian energy from Europe's system, but declined to provide a timeline.
Schucht explained that the difficulty lies in the possibility of Russian exports being redirected. With the US set to ban Russian uranium in 2028, material currently destined for America could easily be rerouted to Europe if the EU continues to accept it. "Do the former exports to the U.S. arrive in a few years in the EU? Then it does not make sense for us to expand our plans in the EU," he warned.
EU officials indicate there is little political appetite to move quickly on a ban, which would likely face opposition from major buyers of Russian fuel, including Slovakia, Hungary, and France. French customs data shows that 39% of its enriched uranium imports in 2025 came from Russia, which also provided 23% of the EU's enrichment services that year.
Despite the uncertainty, Urenco's order book grew by 28% in the first half of 2026, adding €6 billion, driven by lifetime extensions of existing nuclear plants and rising demand for power to serve data centres.