Uranium from Russia Investigation No. 731-TA-539-C (Fourth Review) Publication 4727 September 2017 U.S. International Trade Commission Washington, DC 20436 U.S. International Trade Commission COMMISSIONERS Rhonda K. Schmidtlein, Chairman David S. Johanson, Vice Chairman Irving A. Williamson Meredith M. Broadbent Catherine DeFilippo Director of Operations Staff assigned Jordan Harriman, Investigator Diana Friedman, Industry Analyst Amelia Preece, Economist David Goldfine, Attorney Joseph Catalanotto, Legal Intern Nathanael Comly, Supervisory Investigator Address all communications to Secretary to the Commission United States International Trade Commission Washington, DC 20436 U.S. International Trade Commission Washington, DC 20436 www.usitc.gov Uranium from Russia Investigation No. 731-TA-539-C (Fourth Review) Publication 4727 September 2017 CONTENTS Page Determination ................................................................................................................................. 1 Views of the Commission ............................................................................................................... 3 Information obtained in this review ...................................................................................... I‐1 Background ................................................................................................................................ I‐1 Responses to the Commission’s Notice of Institution .............................................................. I‐2 Individual responses .............................................................................................................. I‐2 Party comments on adequacy ............................................................................................... I‐3 Recent developments in the industry ....................................................................................... I‐3 The original investigation and subsequent reviews .................................................................. I‐5 The original investigation ...................................................................................................... I‐5 The first five‐year review ....................................................................................................... I‐6 The second five‐year review .................................................................................................. I‐7 The third five‐year review ..................................................................................................... I‐8 Agreements regarding imports of uranium from Russia .......................................................... I‐8 The Russian Suspension Agreement (“RSA”) ........................................................................ I‐8 The Domenici Amendment.................................................................................................. I‐11 The HEU Agreement ............................................................................................................ I‐12 Prior related investigations ..................................................................................................... I‐12 The product ............................................................................................................................. I‐13 Commerce’s scope .............................................................................................................. I‐13 Description and uses ........................................................................................................... I‐14 Manufacturing process ........................................................................................................ I‐17 Value added by segment ..................................................................................................... I‐22 U.S. tariff treatment ............................................................................................................ I‐24 The definition of the domestic like product ........................................................................ I‐24 Actions at Commerce .............................................................................................................. I‐25 Current five‐year review ...................................................................................................... I‐25 The industry in the United States ........................................................................................... I‐25 U.S. producers ..................................................................................................................... I‐25 Definition of the domestic industry and related party issues ............................................. I‐27 U.S. producers’ trade and financial data ............................................................................. I‐29 U.S. imports and apparent consumption ................................................................................ I‐34 U.S. importers ...................................................................................................................... I‐34 U.S. imports ......................................................................................................................... I‐35 Apparent U.S. consumption and market shares ................................................................. I‐37 The industry in Russia.............................................................................................................. I‐38 Organization ........................................................................................................................ I‐38 Responses in original investigation and reviews ................................................................. I‐38 Antidumping or countervailing duty orders in third‐country markets ................................... I‐40 The global market ................................................................................................................... I‐41 Uranium mining and milling ................................................................................................ I‐41 i CONTENTS Page Uranium conversion ............................................................................................................ I‐44 Uranium enrichment ........................................................................................................... I‐44 Fuel fabricators for light water reactors ............................................................................. I‐45 Reprocessing industry and the recycling of military warheads .......................................... I‐46 Appendixes A. Federal Register notices ................................................................................................. A‐1 B. Company‐specific data ................................................................................................... B‐1 C. Summary data compiled in prior proceedings ............................................................... C‐1 D. Purchaser questionnaire responses ............................................................................... D‐1 Note.—Information that would reveal confidential operations of individual concerns may not be published and therefore has been deleted. Such deletions are indicated by asterisks. ii UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION Investigation No. 731‐TA‐539‐C (Fourth Review) Uranium from Russia DETERMINATION On the basis of the record1 developed in the subject five‐year review, the United States International Trade Commission (“Commission”) determines, pursuant to the Tariff Act of 1930 (“the Act”), that termination of the suspended investigation covering uranium from Russia would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury to an industry in the United States within a reasonably foreseeable time. BACKGROUND The Commission, pursuant to section 751(c) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1675(c)), instituted this review on February 1, 2017 (82 F.R. 8951) and determined on May 8, 2017 that it would conduct an expedited review (82 F.R. 27287, June 14, 2017). 1 The record is defined in sec. 207.2(f) of the Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure (19 CFR 207.2(f)). 1 Views of the Commission Based on the record in this five‐year review, we determine under section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (“the Tariff Act”), that termination of the suspended investigation covering uranium from Russia would likely lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury to an industry in the United States within a reasonably foreseeable time. I. Background Original Investigation: On December 23, 1991, the Commission determined that there was a reasonable indication that an industry in the United States was materially injured by reason of imports of uranium from the U.S.S.R. that allegedly were being sold at less than fair value (“LTFV”).1 Two days later, the Soviet Union dissolved into separate republics. Commerce and the Commission continued their respective investigations, with Commerce conducting 12 separate investigations, one concerning each of the former Soviet republics.2 Commerce issued affirmative preliminary determinations in the investigations concerning the newly independent countries in June 1992.3 On October 16, 1992, Commerce entered into suspension agreements with the six Soviet successor countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan) that produced uranium.4 In early 1993, Tajikistan