2024-04-26 11:02:11
The American Congress took advantage of the release of an envelope of 60 billion dollars for Ukraine to finance the relaunch of isotope production in the United States. These nuclear industry products are essential to many sectors, from energy and scientific research to drug production and medicine. A market today largely dominated by Russia.
The vote, after more than a year and a half of procrastination between Democrats and Republicans, of a vast United States aid plan for the Ukrainian war effort was widely commented on this week, but one line of the text is largely unnoticed and yet intriguing. Between an allocation of 14 billion to provide Ukraine with arms and ammunition, and another of 9 billion to enable the functioning of institutions in kyiv, the text voted successively by the House of Representatives and the Senate plans to increase the Department of Energy’s budget of $98 million so that he invests “ for the development of isotope production » on American territory.
The connection with Ukraine is not immediately obvious. A first clue: just after this line on isotopes, we find the release of 150 million dollars to prepare Ukraine for the prospect of a nuclear attack on its soil. The isotopes are atoms with very specific properties, they can be stable or radioactive. A very well-known example: carbon 14, used in archeology to date very ancient objects or skeletons, is an isotope. Isotopes exist naturally, but they can also be created artificially using particle accelerators or nuclear power plants. They are used in industry, in energy, for scientific research, in the production of medicines, in nuclear medicine. They are particularly essential in medical imaging, to diagnose certain cancers for example. There was even talk in the 1960s of using isotopes to revive agricultural production in West Africa.
Russia, a key player in the isotope sector
But why include this provision on isotopes in the aid package for Ukraine? In truth, the US Congress did not adopt a 60 billion package for Ukraine, it is a shortcut, but an extension of the US budget « in the context of the situation in Ukraine ». Which does not mean that the bulk of this sum will not be used to directly or indirectly provide Kiev with the munitions and resources it needs, after all the budget devoted to isotopes represents barely a thousandth of the total envelope. .
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But Russia today dominates the production chain of isotopes and radioisotopes. For certain isotopes, it is even the only supplier in the world. The full-scale invasion of Ukraine, two years after a first alert linked to the Covid-19 pandemicdid make Americans aware of their dependence on Moscow on these sensitive products which need to be replaced often. Hence this at first glance incongruous budget line in the middle of a list of military expenditures.
The Russian nuclear industry still escapes Western sanctions
Russia, through Rosatom, the national nuclear giant, continued – and continue again – to invest in the production of isotopes, even though old European, Australian, South African and Canadian reactors which produced them were declining. This situation further accentuates the dependence of Europeans and the United States on Rosatom. Not only the Russian nuclear giant continues to supply 25 to 30% of European nuclear power plants with enriched uraniumbut Rosatom – and therefore the Russian government by extension – also controls the research reactors which produce these radioisotopes.
This double dependence explains why Rosatom still escapes Western sanctions decided after February 2022. For the United States, this is a national security issue. Building on this public support, private companies have already undertaken to relocate part of the production. But it will take time, we cannot restart a nuclear industrial process with the snap of our fingers. Experts predict this addiction could last at least until 2032.
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