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Russian Nuclear Energy Makes $18 Billion a Year—and Still Isn’t Sanctioned
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Despite generating billions in revenue to fuel Russia’s war and help exert political influence, the country’s nuclear giant Rosatom remains untouched even by the 16th package of EU sanctions.
Rosatom, Russia’s state-run nuclear giant, controls the country’s entire nuclear infrastructure and wields major influence abroad. Its scale is impressive: in 2022, the company earned $12 billion; in 2023, the revenue reached $16 billion; and in 2024, it could exceed $18 billion. While this figure falls far behind the revenues from the oil and gas sector, the real impact lies not in the final numbers, but in its global influence. Russia controls about 10% of the global oil market, but in nuclear energy, that share rises to nearly 50%. In comparison, in 2023, American company Westinghouse reported earnings of $9.68 billion.
Russia’s grip on the global nuclear energy market is striking. Of the 59 nuclear reactors currently under construction worldwide, Moscow is responsible for 26. Only two of these reactors are being built within Russia itself; the other 24 are being developed in other countries. All of this is the work of the state-owned Rosatom, not private contractors—an important distinction for the Kremlin. When a country signs a contract with Rosatom, it essentially ties itself to Moscow due to the unique nature of this market and its operations. So, how exactly does this process work?
Rosatom’s strategy: Build and fund it all
The uniqueness of Rosatom’s global expansion lies in its ability to handle all aspects of the project: developing the design, constructing the reactor, training the personnel, supplying the fuel, and managing its eventual disposal. Other companies worldwide only handle one specific aspect of the process.
However, even this is not the most significant factor. The primary strength of Rosatom is that it finances these projects using its own funds. In other words, Rosatom finances the construction of nuclear power plants in other countries by providing loans. As a result, partner countries can receive nuclear plants without investing a cent—or with only a partial investment. For example, Hungary received a €10 billion loan, Turkey was provided with $20 billion, Finland obtained €5 billion for a project worth €6.5 billion, and India was offered $3.4 billion.
These loans are typically subsidized, with little to no interest, often covered by tariffs paid by the population for the use of electricity generated by the newly constructed reactors. Rosatom funds this “generosity” from its own revenue or the Russian National Wealth Fund, without any interest payments. Companies from other countries simply do not have access to such low-cost financing.

As a result, countries—especially those with limited resources in the tens of billions of dollars—find cooperation with Rosatom highly attractive, as there is no need to spend money on construction. The Kremlin, in turn, gains a partner that is at the very least unlikely to oppose them politically, and at most, becomes an ally—Hungary is a prominent example of this. Through nuclear energy, the Kremlin is forging alliances with countries in the Global South and Europe.
Dependence on Russian energy supplies
Building a nuclear plant is only part of the equation. The plant must also be maintained, including supplying nuclear fuel.
Russia ranks among the top ten uranium producers, supplying about 6% of the global market. However, indirectly, through a number of companies owned by Rosatom, Moscow controls another 20% of all uranium extracted in Kazakhstan, the world’s leading uranium producer, accounting for about 50% of global output.
Moreover, Russia is an absolute leader in uranium enrichment and processing. Russia controls between 36% and 45% of the global market for uranium enrichment, according to various estimates. Uranium cannot simply be dumped into a reactor; it must first be enriched. After use, it must be disposed of.
The reactors in plants built by Rosatom are VVER reactors, which can only operate on fuel produced by Rosatom. This creates a dependency: if the plant is built by Rosatom, it will also be the supplier of uranium fuel.
Rosatom also benefits from more lenient legislation regarding nuclear waste handling: its disposal is simpler and cheaper, although it causes more environmental harm. Moscow is willing to overlook these environmental concerns.
All of the factors outlined above are why Rosatom remains unsanctioned.
Approximately 60% of uranium supplies to Europe come from Russia, amounting to just under $1 billion over the past year. Russia also supplies up to 30% of the US market’s nuclear fuel needs. Some countries are entirely dependent on Russian nuclear fuel. This dependency allows the Kremlin to leverage its position, threatening to halt supplies.
Is there a way out?
Yes, and Ukraine provides a striking example. The Ukrainian government recognized the need to reduce dependence on Russian fuel: at the time, all 15 reactors at four Ukrainian nuclear power plants were operating with Russian fuel. Over the years, Russia demonstrated that energy dependence is a means of manipulation; Ukraine had already experienced this with gas blackmail. In just a few years, in cooperation with American company Westinghouse, Ukraine switched to US nuclear fuel. Together with American company Holtec, Ukraine also built a facility for storing spent fuel. This was a lengthy and difficult process, but as the situation shows, it is possible.

How did Russia respond to this? To prevent a similar shift, Rosatom sent a batch of defective fuel elements to Ukraine that could have led to a disaster. Ukrainian specialists detected the defect and prevented the use of the faulty elements. Russia did not conduct an investigation.
In 2022, Russian forces seized the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant—the largest in Europe. Its operation is now overseen by Rosatom. The Russian state corporation illegally controls the plant of another country, using it to threaten Europe with nuclear blackmail.
Moreover, according to an investigation by The Washington Post, Rosatom supplies missile fuel to the Russian military, making the company complicit in the war against Ukraine.
Despite all of this, Rosatom and its nuclear energy exports remain untouched by sanctions.