Study: 5k tons of undeclared uranium may have entered China via DR
A new study suggests that between 2,000 and 5,000 metric tons of undeclared uranium may have been exported from the DRC alongside cobalt shipments since 2000. Researchers warn that this bypasses international nuclear non-proliferation oversight.
Why it matters
The potential for undeclared nuclear material to enter global supply chains poses significant security and non-proliferation risks that require international attention.
A new study has claimed that between 2,000 and 5,000 metric tons of undeclared uranium may have been extracted and exported from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between 2000 and 2024 through the country's cobalt supply chain, despite the nation not officially reporting uranium production for decades.The research, published in Nature Communications, was conducted by scientists from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Princeton University. The team said the uranium was unintentionally extracted alongside cobalt in the DRC's Copperbelt region, where the two minerals naturally occur together.The DRC is the world's largest producer of cobalt, a key component in lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles, renewable energy storage systems and other clean energy technologies.
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