The European Commission is working on the EU’s 11th round of sanctions against Russia in response to the war against Ukraine. This time, Russia’s nuclear sector is in the crosshairs, especially state-run Rosatom, which is potentially bad news for some EU countries.
At the European Summit on March 24, EC President Ursula von der Leyen stated the 11th package would mainly deal with circumventions and loopholes related to previous sanctions, but it now looks like the stakes are higher. Ukraine and a group of EU countries want to target Russia’s nuclear sector, which means that countries within the EU would have to cut all ties.
This might be hard for France. France gets a lot of uranium from Rosatom for its own power sector. France also sells steam turbines for nuclear power plants to Rosatom. The Frensh government has frozen or suspended commercial cooperation because of the war, but some French state-controlled companies still work with Rosatom.
It is a sensitive subject considering Rosatom’s role in overseeing the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine. Kyiv wants all EU countries to cut ties with Russia’s nuclear sector and has found support.
Poland and the Baltic States have presented a proposal to the Commission with new targeted measures against Rosatom. They say the EU should limit imports of nuclear fuel, stop new investment in power plants and restrict exports to Russia. Another proposal is to target Rosatom’s top executives.
The effects of such sanctions would be mainly financial for the Russians. The EU imports more than €200 million worth of uranium from Russia every year and another €245 million from Kazakhstan, where uranium mining is controlled by Rosatom.
But several EU countries are bound to take a hit as well. Hungary is building two nuclear reactors with Russian loans. The dependency on Russian nuclear fuel is highest in Eastern and Central Europe, where 18 nuclear power plants were designed by Russia and rely on Russian technologies and services, as well as fuel elements provided by Rosatom.
Beyond Rosatom, other proposed sanctions would target Russian oil imports to Germany via the northern leg of the Druzhba pipeline. It would also end imports of Russian diamonds and natural gas, including LNG, and curb nuclear energy cooperation.
