State Building right-of-way. According to Greenpeace, Russia controls more than 40% of imports of natural uranium from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and a third of those of enriched uranium. A situation that places the French nuclear industry "under control" of Moscow according to the NGO.
In 2022, 43% "of the natural uranium imported into France came from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan," Greenpeace said in a report. However, according to the NGO, "almost all of the natural uranium from Kazakhstan, and a considerable part of that from Uzbekistan" is transported via rail convoys to the port of St. Petersburg, then by cargo ships to France.
"These transports can only be carried out under the condition of obtaining a license issued by Rosatom," the National Society for Atomic Energy in Russia. Roads avoiding Russian territory "do not represent any real alternatives today," the report adds.
"Dependence is immense"
Greenpeace had already described as "scandalous" the continuation of nuclear trade with Russia, a sector that is not targeted by international sanctions, unlike hydrocarbons. The organization had in particular noted that the France had received from Russia "a third of the enriched uranium necessary for the operation of French nuclear power plants for one year", a tripling in 2022 according to it.
"Contrary to what the defenders of the atom claim, the dependence of the French nuclear industry on the Russian authorities is immense, which could explain why the France continues to actively oppose sanctions against Rosatom at the European level," Greenpeace said Saturday.
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- Greenpeace