U.S. Companies Are Paying Billions to Russia’s Nuclear Program - The New York Times publishes the article with such title

“American businesses are paying around USD 1 billion per year to Russia’s state-owned nuclear program, The New York Times reported Wednesday. Why? U.S. nuclear power companies rely on the cheap uranium made by Russia to fuel more than half of America’s emissions-free energy.

As the U.S. and its allies work to cut economic ties with Moscow amid the war in Ukraine, this nuclear energy money is one of the most significant ties left. While the U.S. and Europe massively cut back on the amount of fossil fuel being purchased from Russia, finding an alternative to its enriched uranium supply isn’t so easy.

Russia is the world’s cheapest producer of enriched uranium - cutting it out could take years, and a lot more funding from the U.S. government than is currently allocated.

The US imported another USD 411.5 million in enriched uranium between January and March 2023, Darya Dolzikova​, an analyst working for UK-based security think tank Royal United Services Institute told Insider in an email.

In his State of Union address last year, Biden pledged to damage Russia"s economy. "We are inflicting pain on Russia and supporting the people of Ukraine. Putin is now isolated from the world more than ever," the president declared.

While the US has issued wide-ranging sanctions against Russia, nuclear fuel is one of the few energy sources that has not been banned by the West, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The White House did levy some sanctions against Rosatom and several of its executives in late February, per Politico. However, Western firms continue to maintain deep ties with the atomic company, which dominates the nuclear supply chain”, - writes the author.