Key Issues
Uranium Fuel Supply Adequate to Meet Present and Future Nuclear Energy Demand
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February 2009
Key Points
1 “Uranium 2007: Resources, Production and Demand,” OECD/IAEA, 2008.
2 U.S. Energy Information Administration.
February 2009
Key Points
- Higher uranium prices have prompted a re-examination of existing deposits and exploration for new ones. Some 400 companies are investing in this work, confident that today’s nuclear power plants and the many new reactors in development promise a strong market for the material. In addition, providers of uranium conversion and enrichment services are expanding their capacity in the United States and abroad.
- Uranium is one of the world’s most abundant metals. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2008 jointly produced a report on uranium resources.1 The report states that uranium resources are adequate to meet nuclear energy needs for at least the next 100 years at present consumption levels. More efficient fast reactors could extend that period to more than 2,500 years.
- Bolstering confidence in future supply is the fact that some of the world’s richest deposits of uranium are in politically stable countries. Canada and Australia account for 44 percent of global uranium production; the United States accounts for 5 percent.
- The U.S. uranium production industry is working to increase domestic supplies. In 2007, uranium of U.S. origin accounted for eight percent of the material purchased by the owners and operators of U.S. nuclear power plants. The remainder (47 million pounds) came from foreign sources.2
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1 “Uranium 2007: Resources, Production and Demand,” OECD/IAEA, 2008.
2 U.S. Energy Information Administration.
