The European Union is not expected to face any short- or long-term problems with uranium supplies from Niger amid the unstable situation in the African country as there are enough uranium reserves on the global market to cover the bloc's needs, European Commission spokesman Adalbert Jahnz said on Tuesday.
"A question about the security of supply of uranium to the EU ... I can confirm that there is no supply risk as such when it comes to the EU," Jahnz told a briefing in Brussels.
The spokesman also said that the European Union had sufficient reserves of natural uranium to mitigate any short-term supply risks, and that there are enough deposits on the world market to meet the bloc's medium- and long-term uranium needs.
EU nuclear agency Euratom has said it sees no immediate risk to nuclear power production in Europe should Niger cut its deliveries of uranium.
ReplyDeleteEuratom told Reuters that Niger was the second-largest supplier of natural uranium to the European Union last year.
It said utilities in the bloc had enough uranium inventories to fuel its nuclear power reactors for three years.
"If imports from Niger are being cut, there are no immediate risks to the security of nuclear power production in the shortterm," said Euratom.