Three-Tier Fuel Supply
Three-tier fuel supply refers to the Russia-centric nuclear fuel chain: Kazakhstan mining, Russian conversion/enrichment, Western fabrication.
Kazatomprom provides ~40% uranium, ROSATOM ~50% conversion and 40% enrichment, Framatome/Westinghouse fuel rods. Controls 20-30% of light water reactor fuel. Western strategies aim to break dependency via Orano, Urenco expansions.
Why it matters now
Disrupting this tier in 2025-2026 via sanctions fuels contango, delays SMR licensing, and spurs US DOE HALEU programs for data centers.