Answer:
Nuclear energy powers our businesses, homes and military. America’s 95 operating nuclear reactors generate approximately 20% of our nation’s electricity and provide over half of our carbon-free energy. They also create good-paying jobs at power plants and uranium mines. Wyoming produced 87% of America’s domestic uranium supply in 2018.
Today, nuclear energy faces serious hurdles. Regulatory costs and subsidies for renewable energy technologies are forcing America’s nuclear power plants to close at an alarming rate.
Russia and China are subsidizing their government-owned nuclear companies to assert their energy influence around the world. China is searching the globe for uranium reserves and investing heavily in the countries where it’s found. They want to secure more nuclear fuel for themselves and increase their control of the global supply.
Meanwhile, American nuclear power plants have come to rely on cheap Russian imports of uranium to meet their nuclear fuel needs. Right now, roughly 40% of the uranium coming into the United States originates in Russia or its satellite states of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Russian-backed companies are developing fuel that can be placed directly in American reactors.
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