WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden's administration is probing a surge in imports of enriched uranium from China since late 2023 amid concerns the shipments are helping Moscow sidestep a US ban on imports of the power plant fuel from Russia, Reuters has learned.

US House lawmakers passed the ban on Russian enriched uranium in December 2023 as part of a US effort to disrupt President Vladimir Putin's ability to fund Russia's war on Ukraine.

That month, shipments of enriched uranium from China to the US shot to 242 990 kg, according to data from the US International Trade Commission. The imports are significant because from 2020 to 2022 China did not send any enriched uranium to the US.

In May this year, the month that Biden signed the ban, China again sent the US a large amount of uranium - this time totaling 123 894 kg (273 139 lb).

The US Department of Energy "along with other relevant agencies is closely tracking imports from China to ensure the proper implementation of the recently enacted Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act," a department spokesperson said, a development that has not been previously reported.

US officials are watching the imports from China and other countries to "ensure they are not importing Russian uranium as part of a scheme to export material produced domestically that they would otherwise have used in their own reactors," the spokesperson said.

There was no immediate response from the Chinese foreign ministry in Beijing to a request for comment.

Russia is the world's largest exporter of enriched uranium. Imports to the US from Russia through July this year stood at 313 050 kg (690 160 lb), down 30% from last year. The ban allows some Russian imports to continue until 2028 if there are supply concerns.

Any circumvention of the ban could undermine the US effort to eventually eliminate dependence on Russian fuel for its nuclear power industry, the biggest in the world. It could also weaken the Biden administration's attempts to jumpstart a domestic uranium supply chain, as the ban unlocked $2.72 billion in public funds to do so.

China's imports of Russian enriched uranium soared in 2022 and 2023, according to data published by the World Bank. While China is building more reactors that will need a steady supply of uranium, the supplies from Russia could also help it export the fuel, analysts say.

"As China may be seeking to carve out a greater role for itself in world enriched uranium markets, increased imports of Russian enriched uranium may facilitate the pursuit of Beijing’s ambitions," said a report in March by the London-based Royal United Services Institute think tank.

'GAMING THE BAN'

The imports from China are cause for concern for a US uranium industry. In June Centrus, a company developing enriched uranium capacity, urged the US Trade Representative (USTR) in public comments to raise the tariff rate on enriched uranium from China from 7.5% to 20%, saying that the company's own efforts "could be threatened by imports of enriched uranium from China."

The Uranium Producers of America industry group urged USTR in public comments to increase the rate up to 50%.

The USTR, which finalized increases on tariffs on some other goods last week but not on uranium from China, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Jon Indall, counsel for UPA, said his group met in July with the US Commerce Department on concerns that the imports from China represent a circumvention of the ban on Russian uranium.

"Gaming the ban is what we are concerned about," Indall said. "We would not like to see that we turn off the Russian tap and all of a sudden we see all this material coming from China."

"We're worried about circumvention of the ban," by China, said Indall. "We asked Commerce to take a look at this."

The Commerce Department did not respond to a request for comment.

Russian state nuclear company Rosatom did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In May Rosatom said that the ban would undermine the global market for enriched uranium but that it would continue to develop its global business.

Moscow had been publicly quiet about the ban until September 11 when Putin said Moscow should consider limiting exports of uranium, and other metals in retaliation for Western sanctions.