OREANDA-NEWS  The volume of exports of products and technologies of the Russian nuclear industry increased by 20% in 2022. Nuclear fuel supplies from Russia to the EU reached the highest level in three years last year, Bloomberg reported, citing a study by the British Royal United Institute for Defense Research (RUSI).

According to RUSI estimates, in December, Russia's total nuclear exports amounted to $201.5 million, while the highest monthly export figure for the previous three years did not exceed $ 160 million. At the same time, the data cited by RUSI does not take into account the supply of nuclear fuel to Iran.

The agency recalls that the EU and the US have not yet imposed sanctions against the Russian nuclear industry. This is largely due to the fact that Russia, unlike many other countries, continued to develop nuclear energy and remained one of the few suppliers of nuclear fuel. In particular, Rosatom supplies a fifth of the enriched uranium required for the operation of 92 US nuclear reactors.

On February 2, MEPs called for the expulsion of Rosatom from the EU and the cessation of uranium imports from Russia. Sources told Reuters that at the suggestion of Poland and Lithuania, the tenth package of EU sanctions may include restrictions on the Russian nuclear industry, in particular Rosatom and its leadership.

On February 5, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky imposed sanctions against 200 legal entities from the Russian Federation, including Rosatom State Corporation, its subsidiaries and other companies of the Russian nuclear industry. In particular, the list includes the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Zaporizhia NPP", which has been in charge of the NPP since October 2022. On February 12, Mr. Zelensky imposed sanctions against Yuri Ushakov, Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation for Foreign Policy and a member of the Rosatom Supervisory Board, and more than a hundred employees of Rosatom and its subsidiaries.