Five G7 Countries, namely the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, and Japan, have stated their intention to create a group that can work together to push Russia out of the nuclear energy market. The nations aim to use this alliance to avoid using Russian fuel, create shared sustainable supply chains, and improve their domestic capabilities.
Five of the G7 Countries, gathered on Monday to announce that they were forming a group in order to tackle Russia’s grip on the energy market. They intend to do so specifically in the energy fuel market and intend to use Nuclear energy to reduce reliance on both fossil fuels and Russia. The British government stated that this agreement was reached by the countries while discussing it at the G7 Energy Minister’s Meeting in Sapporo, Japan.
An agreement was reached by the G7 countries at the summit in order to “leverage the respective resources and capabilities of each country’s civil nuclear power sectors to undermine Russia’s grip on supply chains.” This is only the latest in a long list of Western sanctions and measures aimed at curbing Russia’s dominance over the energy sector in Europe, which were enacted in response to the Russia-Ukraine War.
Aims of the agreement
This agreement aims to leave Russia out of the market by taking out its primary market base through shared cooperation. It intends to both formulate shared external supply lines as well as increase the domestic nuclear energy capabilities of each nation. The UK statement also mentioned that this would ultimately promote the respective domestic sectors of each country.
The group concluded that this common agreement would be enough to ensure that a stable supply of nuclear fuel is maintained at least for today’s needs. For future needs, the agreement would work on development as mentioned previously.
Reducing reliance on Russian fuel
At the meeting, the British Secretary of State for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero pressed on the importance of cheaper and safer renewable sources such as this in ensuring energy independence for the United Kingdom. He also stated the agreement was also based around, “uniting with other countries to show Putin that Russia isn’t welcome anymore.”
The Official statement released by the G7 countries, while more technical and less aggressive in tone, still stresses the intention to reduce reliance on Russian fuel.
This collaboration according to their statement, “aims to increase the depth and resilience of our nuclear fuel supply-chains, while supporting the wider Geo-strategic objectives of further reducing reliance on Russia in the nuclear fuel supply chain for the long term and increasing the availability of commercial free-market”.
The UK’s role in this
The G7 Countries chiefly the United Kingdom and the United States have been at the forefront of efforts to sanction Russia and reduce its power in the energy sector, especially after the War in Ukraine began. They enacted a major ban on Russian Oil and Oil Products while also sanctioning other countries from buying these. This has caused Russia to move towards other energy sources which they can sell. The agreement is important as it intends to remove this breathing room for Russia.
Due to the Oil Ban and the stress on supply chains for Oil from other sources, Nuclear energy is ever more important, especially for the UK which is undergoing an energy crisis. Currently, Nuclear energy provides approximately 15% of the UK’s electricity supply. This will increase more as they pursue sustainable energy, and as Oil supply chains get harder in the face of more sanctions on Russia. In this situation, it is no surprise that these nations are trying to dislodge Russia from the nuclear energy market.
