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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 145 / Monday, August 2, 2021 / Notices ability to spend on R&D. The lack of R&D spending by mining companies, caused by poor uranium market conditions, will negatively affect their long-term competitiveness. These firms will not be able to develop new production methods and techniquesfor example, TEXT REDACTED
TEXT REDACTED noted that poor economic conditions caused them to significantly cut R&D expenditures.
TEXT REDACTED
Although U.S. uranium firms are currently able to fund a small amount of R&D, their limited ability to invest in
this area will constrain future growth.
Depressed uranium prices, caused by artificially low-priced imports, oblige U.S. firms to cut costs wherever possible, particularly in R&D. Low R&D
expenditures will, in turn, inhibit U.S.
firms from being competitive on a global level.
9. Capital Expenditures All sectors of the U.S. uranium industry are capital-intensive. Mining companies hold significant capital investments in their deposits and the associated mining equipment;

converters and enrichers hold significant investments in their proprietary conversion and enrichment processes; and fuel fabricators also have significant investments in the equipment and facilities needed to make fuel assemblies. Capital investment in the industry, however, has been hampered by poor uranium market conditions, with capital expenditures across the U.S. uranium industry falling by 60.2 percent from $330.8 million in 2014 to $131.7 million in 2018 see Figure 57.

Figure 57: Total Front-End U.S. Uranium Industry Capital Expenditures, 2014-2018

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Global uranium market conditions have had various impacts on different stages of the fuel cycle. TEXT
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TEXT REDACTED Both of these firms are representative of the effect of global import trends on U.S. uranium mining as well as U.S. uranium enrichment. Excess global supply of uranium concentrate, as well as excess global capacity to produce enriched material, places pressure on domestic U.S. producers, thus impacting their ability to invest in expanding productive capacity.
In contrast, however, U.S. fuel fabricators reported an increase in capital expenditures over the 2014 to
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2018 period. TEXT REDACTED These increases indicate the comparatively strong state of the U.S. fuel fabrication sector. Due to prohibitive tariffs and reporting requirements associated with imported fuel assemblies, U.S. nuclear power generators opt to have their assemblies produced in the United States. U.S. fuel fabricators do not experience the same market pressures as do U.S. producers of uranium concentrate and enriched uranium.
However, should demand for nuclear fuel in the U.S. drop due to continued or accelerated reactor retirements, these firms will likely experience financial pressures that will force them to cut capital expenditures. In addition, long-

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term Russian and Chinese efforts to sell fuel directly to U.S. nuclear electric power utilities will also negatively impact domestic fuel fabricators.
A viable U.S. uranium industry must be able to make adequate capital expenditures to maintain existing production levels and prepare for future expansion. However, in the current depressed uranium market, it is not possible for U.S. firms to do so.
C. Trade Actions: Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Duties The U.S. Government has taken action against artificially low-priced uranium imports. Several anti-dumping investigations conducted by the
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Source; U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security, Front-End Survey, Tab 6a