Ukraine wants to resume uranium mining amid global push for greater nuclear self-sufficiency

Ukraine plans to increase domestic uranium production to 750–800 tonnes a year, which would cover approximately 30% of its annual nuclear fuel requirements. Ukrainian Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal announced the plan at the Roadmaps to New Nuclear 2026 industry conference in Paris. The move is part of the Ukrainian government’s broader strategy to build a complete supply chain for its domestic nuclear energy sector that is independent of Russia—from uranium mining and component manufacturing to electricity generation itself.

For Ukraine, returning to these production levels would mean restoring output to where it stood before Russia’s invasion in February 2022. The country mined 800 tonnes of uranium in 2019, according to World Nuclear Association (WNA) data, but production fell to just 100 tonnes in 2022 as a result of the war. Production began to recover slowly in the following years, but in 2024 it still amounted to only 288 tonnes.

To restore production, the Ukrainian state-owned company Energoatom is providing financial support to mining company SkhidGZK. According to S&P Global, the loans are going towards modernising mining equipment, excavating new underground tunnels, and designing and potentially building a new sulphuric acid plant, which is essential for processing ore. At the same time, Shmyhal said, Ukraine plans to manufacture locally components for Westinghouse VVER fuel assemblies and establish its own capacity for their final assembly.

Global shift away from Russia and return to uranium self-sufficiency

Ukraine’s efforts to increase domestic mining are part of a broader global trend, as Western countries have been reassessing their dependence on the Russian nuclear fuel cycle since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine and seeking to restore their own mining and processing capacity.

For example, after years of restrictions, the Swedish parliament approved legislative changes last year that pave the way for uranium mining to resume in the country. Sweden, which has significant uranium ore reserves by European standards, lifted its 2018 mining ban to strengthen energy security and secure raw materials for its planned new nuclear reactors.

In the United States, projects are underway to restore key parts of the fuel supply chain, including building a new uranium conversion plant for the first time in more than seventy years. Together with substantial support for domestic uranium enrichment, the projects reflect US efforts to end the dominance of Russian state corporation Rosatom in conversion and enrichment services.

Ukraine’s effort to build an integrated fuel supply chain thus illustrates a broader structural shift in the global nuclear sector, where security of supply and diversification of sources are increasingly coming to the fore.