WASHINGTON, June 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. is bidding to

eventually buy up to $2.7 billion of domestically-supplied

enriched uranium, in an effort to boost the supply chain for the

nuclear reactor fuel and steer the country away from buying it

from Russia, the Energy Department said on Thursday.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

The $2.7 billion in funding was unleashed by

legislation,

signed by President Joe Biden

in May, that also imposed a ban on imports of enriched

uranium from Russia, as part of sanctions on the country for its

full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia, the world's top seller

of enriched uranium, had been supplying about 24% of the fuel

used by U.S. reactors.

BY THE NUMBERS

The Department of Energy plans to award two or more

contracts, which will last for up to 10 years, depending on the

availability of funding. The sources can include new enrichment

facilities or projects that expand the capacity of existing

enrichment facilities. The move could benefit Centrus Energy ( LEU )

and Urenco, a British and Dutch, German company with

operations in New Mexico. Proposals are due on August 26.

KEY QUOTES

"DOE is helping jumpstart uranium enrichment capacity here

in the United States, which is critical to strengthening our

national security and growing our domestic nuclear industry,"

said U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

Lindsey Geisler, a spokesperson for Centrus, said: "This

request for proposal is a critical step toward restoring

America's nuclear fuel supply chain with U.S. technology built

by American workers. We look forward to submitting a compelling

and competitive proposal to do just that."

Urenco did not immediately respond to a request for comment.