Part 1 of 3 Parts
     Since 2014, the U.S. and the E.U. have promoted an international sanctions campaign against Russia’s energy sector. These efforts to decouple international dependencies on Russian energy were accelerated following Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine.
     The energy sector of the Russian Federation economy itself is not subject to comprehensive sanctions. However, prohibitions or restrictions may apply to certain energy-related transactions under several sanctions authorities, including prohibitions issued pursuant to E.O. 13662, E.O. President Joe Biden’s Executive Order (E.O.) targeting the Russian energy sector places prohibitions or restrictions on certain energy-related transactions and imposes primary restrictions that have a far-reaching impact on the energy and marine sectors. The U.S. president signed an executive order last March banning the import of any Russian hydrocarbons.
      The E.U. recently announced its plan to cut Russian natural gas imports by two-thirds by the end of 2022. The recent explosions that breached the Nord Stream pipeline carrying Russian natural gas to Europe may accelerate the reduction of natural gas coming from Russia. By 2027, the European block hopes to completely ban import of Russian fossil fuels.
     In recent decades, Russia, through Rosatom, has been one of the world’s biggest exporters of nuclear reactors. On March 15, 2022, Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) hosted a private, virtual roundtable focusing on the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on energy markets and geopolitics, as well as possible future actions of the United States, the European Union, and allied countries. The report of the roundtable by Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy is titled Columbia Global Energy Dialog | Russia and Sanctions: Impacts on Energy Markets and Geopolitics.  Of the 439 nuclear power reactors in operation in 2021, eighty were either in Russia or they were Russian VVER type located in other countries. By the end of 2021, fifteen more Russian-type reactors were under construction in other countries.
     In spite of these aggressive sanction programs, Rosatom, Russia’s state-run nuclear giant, has managed to avoid any sanctions which allows it to continue nuclear projects in countries such as Bangladesh and Egypt.
     Paul Dabbar is the CEO of Bohr Quantum Technology and distinguished visiting fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA. He said, “In comparison to natural gas and crude oil, which are commodities you can buy from virtually any place, nuclear is a much narrower market. With nuclear energy, the supply chains are significantly more fragile, and the replacement opportunities are way less. So, when you sanction one country, you are effectively sanctioning the one and only company that can provide certain services.”
     Russia’s core involvement in the international nuclear power supply chain reached beyond Russian-styled reactors. The country is in the top ten producers of mined and refined uranium globally. Kazakhstan is the top uranium producer in the world and a close ally of Russia. It accounted for nearly forty percent global uranium conversion services in 2020. This analysis was included in the Columbia University’s report.
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