This week, the EU will announce legal measures to completely end imports of fossil fuels from Russia. However, the bloc has delayed plans to reduce dependence on Russian nuclear technology.
According to the Bruegel Institute, nuclear fuel alone accounts for about 700 million euros out of the total 22 billion euros the EU has spent on Russia in 2024. However, officials warn that the risk to EU energy security will be huge if Russia suddenly cuts off supply.
Technically, the uranium supply chain is very complex, said Ben McWilliams, a climate and energy research expert at Bruegel.
The EU currently has 101 nuclear reactors, of which 19 are of the Soviet VVER design. The bloc also depends on Russia for about 20-25% of its converted and enriched uranium.
Nuclear reactors across the EU also often buy replacement parts from Russia or need maintenance expertise at nuclear facilities from Russia.
According to EU officials, the European Commission expects the bloc's nuclear energy sector to wean itself off dependence on imports from Russia by the 2030s. However, on June 13, the Commission warned that up to 241 billion euros is needed to build an internal nuclear supply chain.
However, Russia has a large position in this field. The Russian state-owned nuclear power company Rosatom is one of the largest companies in all areas of the nuclear market, noted Dmitry Gorchakov, nuclear adviser at the non-governmental organization Bellona.
Russia also accounts for 55% of the global market share in uranium enrichment, the next step after the transition, to increase the proportion of nuclear-reactive uranium-235 synthesis.
Maintaining the remaining Soviet-style reactors, some of which have been in operation since 1977, is also a difficult problem. Building skills and trust for small and medium-sized enterprises to produce for the nuclear industry, which has very high safety requirements, is a long process.
Plans to phase out Russian fuel also face strong opposition from Hungary and Slovakia, two of the five EU member states with the VVER nuclear reactor. The remaining three countries are the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Finland.
The biggest problem, according to Bruegels McWilliams, is the nuclear power plant in Paks, about 100km south of Budapest.
Hungary has long bet big on Russian nuclear technology. In 2014, Hungary decided to build two more reactors designed by Rosatom, to double the capacity of the 4-cluster nuclear plant built in the 1980s in Paks. These two plants are expected to meet 3/4 of the country's electricity needs.
Despite pressure from the EU and negotiations with French and US suppliers, Hungary has yet to make a move to switch to using fuel and nuclear equipment outside Russia.
