Cameco's McArthur River mine in Saskatchewan. Canada is the world’s second largest producer of uranium and much of it comes from Cameco , which has two of the largest and highest grade uranium mines in the world. Courtesy of Cameco Corporation
The United States is opening an investigation into uranium imports on national security grounds.
The investigation is under the same national security trade clause, Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, under which the U.S. placed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, the European Union and other countries in June after a similar investigation.
“Our production of uranium necessary for military and electric power has dropped from 49 per cent of our consumption to five per cent,” U.S. commerce secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement on Wednesday. “The department of Commerce’s bureau of industry and security will conduct a thorough, fair, and transparent review to determine whether uranium imports threaten to impair national security.”
Canada is the world’s second largest producer of uranium, accounting for about 22 per cent of global output according to the World Nuclear Association, and much of it comes from Saskatchewan-based Cameco Corporation, which has two of the largest and highest grade uranium mines in the world. Other major suppliers include Kazakhstan, Australia and Russia.
The commerce department said the investigation is the result of a complaint filed by two U.S companies, UR-Energy and Energy Fuels. The industry review will cover everything from mining through to enrichment and industrial consumption, and will not specifically target any country.
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The potential trade action comes at a time when the uranium industry is already struggling, with many mines temporarily shut down. Prices have fallen more than 70 per cent since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011.
“It’s too early to speculate on what effect this investigation could have on Cameco or our Canadian and U.S. operations,” Cameco CEO Tim Gitzel said in statement. “We will need to see what the investigation finds, if any trade action is recommended, and what specific remedies might be pursued before the potential impact, positive or negative, can be determined.”
Canadian uranium does have some advantages over steel and aluminum producers in national security matters. None of the Canadian supply goes towards the U.S. military, as Canadian nuclear non-proliferation laws forbid the export of domestic supply for nuclear weapon use.
The U.S. has 99 commercial nuclear reactors, making up 20 per cent of the U.S. electricity supply.
