Analysis: Demand to stress uranium supply

WASHINGTON, March 2 (UPI) — The high price of oil and natural gas, and the emissions of both — plus coal — sparking new mainstream concerns about climate change, has fueled a global nuclear power renaissance. Whether there’s enough uranium to fuel the reactors, however, isn’t guaranteed.

About 435 nuclear reactors operate in 30 countries. The International Atomic Energy Agency expects another 30 in the next 15 years. Those reactors — including 103 in the United States — consume about 180 million pounds of uranium a year; worldwide production of uranium is about 100 million pounds.


The global uranium market began with the buildup of nuclear weapons, from which the nuclear energy industry sprang. But the enrichment process operated under a market controlled by governments because of proliferation concerns.

“Prices went up quite high in the mid-70s, during the previous energy crisis, and the government enrichment contracts artificially inflated demand and you had a pretty big build up of inventories,” said Jeff Combs, president of The Ux Consulting Co., a Roswell, Ga.-based uranium analyst.

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