Rosatom's Global Dominance and the Hunt for Alternative Suppliers

The Russian nuclear industry is a pivotal supplier for every key nuclear technology, from nuclear reactors to the uranium fuel cycle. Alternative suppliers have not emerged and will take time to do so. Just as it WEAPONIZED Europe's ill-considered dependence on Russian gas, the Kremlin could exploit global reliance on the Russian nuclear industry to undermine support for Ukraine.

Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachev noted in February 2021 that his company was "actively working" in 12 countries.
[...]
Countries Moving Away From Rosatom
[...]
Since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, some European countries have made efforts to reduce or eliminate their dependence on Russia for nuclear products. The [Czechia] will receive fuel for one of its VVERs from France's Framatome and the U.S. firm Westinghouse starting [POLAND] in 2024. The French nuclear fuel producer Orano announced after the invasion that it had "suspended all new shipments of nuclear materials to and from Russia." Sweden has also shifted to other mined and milled uranium and reactor fuel suppliers. In May 2022, Finland backed out of a major nuclear reactor deal with Rosatom, reportedly losing several hundred million euros, but it has other reactors that the Russian nuclear giant built and currently services.
[...]
Countries Deepening Ties With Rosatom

Countries friendly toward Russia, as well as several that have close relations with the United States, are moving forward with Rosatom projects rather than seeking alternatives.

China is a key Rosatom partner, purchasing reactors, fuel, and services, and has a number of joint projects underway...[Türkiye]'s first fleet of four VVER-1200s ...The company is also building Egypt's four VVER-1200s...Belarus, a close Russian ally, has a Rosatom reactor project ...Hungary, an EU member that maintains friendly ties with the Putin regime...Rosatom services Iran's reactor at Bushehr...South Korea signed a major deal with Rosatom...building two reactors in Bangladesh and is working on a nuclear technology center in Bolivia. ...Armenia, Uzbekistan, Myanmar, [Kenya, Rwanda,] and Brazil signed memoranda of understanding (MOUs) to purchase nuclear infrastructure...It also planned several other ventures, such as projects with Serbia and the Philippines.
[...]

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Western sanctions on the Russian
economy have been expanding. Nonetheless, Russia's nuclear energy exports have not come
under economic restrictions. The Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation (Rosatom), which
has a monopoly over the Russian nuclear industry, has continued exports of nuclear fuel and
other goods relevant to the nuclear energy sector. According to Russian customs data, sourced
through a third-party commercial trade data provider, Russia has exported just over $1 billion worth of nuclear energy-related goods and materials since the start of the war in Ukraine.
[...]

[...]
Although uranium from Russia could be replaced by imports from elsewhere within a year -- and most nuclear plants have at least one-year extra reserves, according to ESA head Agnieszka Kaźmierczak -- countries with Russian-built VVER reactors rely on fuel made by Moscow.
[...]

The "bigger problem" across the board is enrichment and conversion [read: "processing of critical raw materials"], she added, due to chronic under-capacity worldwide. It could take "seven to 10 years" to replace Rosatom -- and that timeline is conditional on significant investments in the sector.
[...]