Every year hundreds of millions of dollars are spent by U.S. companies to buy raw and enriched uranium from Russia.  Profits from these sales are helping fund Russia's war against Ukraine.  It’s hypocritical for the U.S. government to demand European countries stop importing Russian natural gas while we import uranium from the very same country.
 
The U.S. has allowed itself to depend on major imports of uranium from Russia and Russian-allied Kazakhstan, but we are not simply calling for increases in domestic uranium production.  Uranium mining usually comes at a steep price in pollution of Native American land.  There’s also the fact that the uranium is being used chiefly by the nuclear power industry.   Besides the usual worries about the safety of nuclear power plants and lack of a long-term plan for disposal of nuclear waste, this year we’ve learned of a grave new concern, that parties at war will not automatically give a wide berth to nuclear power plants.  Russia shelled and took over the Zaporizhya nuclear power complex and its attacks on Ukraine’s electric power grid in November have cut normal and vital electric power to all four Ukraine’s nuclear power complexes.

 
The U.S. should stop importing Russian uranium and start a crash program to transition away from costly and environmentally damaging uranium and fossil fuel dependence.