Despite the significance of the nuclear industry to the Russian state, Rosatom has largely escaped meaningful sanctions.

Since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has repeatedly threatened the use of atomic weapons, yet its much-prized nuclear industry has faced little in the way of meaningful sanctions. Russia’s state atomic corporation, Rosatom, is a key part of the country’s military-industrial complex — and is increasingly expanding its reach beyond nuclear weapons. By far the world’s largest exporter of reactors and enriched uranium, it is a major player in the global civil nuclear industry. Despite the significance of the nuclear industry to the Russian state, Rosatom has largely escaped meaningful sanctions. In recent months, the Kremlin has made much of the industry’s 80th anniversary, touting its leadership in everything from rare earth metals to nuclear icebreakers. Although Russian revenues from the nuclear industry are modest in comparison to the country’s exports of oil and gas, the strategic value of the sector is much greater, not least as one of the few technologically advanced areas of the economy. Rosatom accounts for almost half of the world’s uranium enrichment capacity and currently has seven reactors under construction in Russia and 20 overseas, including two in Iran. But the company has not faced full blocking sanctions from the U.S., EU, or U.K. — all of which continue to import Russian nuclear fuel or uranium — despite its active role in some of the most troubling aspects of the conflict, including war crimes committed at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, occupied by Russia since 2022.