From OilPrice, June 15:
- Once a uranium leader, the U.S. now imports 98% of its nuclear fuel.
- The U.S. is now enjoying a nuclear renaissance, with the sector seeing a resurgence in recent years.
- Last year, the country produced almost 700,000 pounds of yellowcake, good for a more than a dozen-fold increase from the previous year.
For decades, the United States has been the world’s biggest producer of nuclear energy, accounting for 30% of global production. The country, however, currently imports 98% of the uranium feedstock it needs to power its 94 nuclear reactors. Indeed, the U.S. accounts for less than 1% of the world’s uranium output, with Kazakhstan, Canada, and Namibia accounting for nearly two-thirds of global production.
But things have not always been this way. The country’s nuclear age peaked in the 1960s to the mid-1980s when it was the leader in uranium production. The downtrend that followed can largely be chalked up to government policy, with Washington de-prioritizing away from the uranium sector, including providing less government funding and subsidies to support it over the years. Meanwhile, several high-profile nuclear accidents took a heavy toll on public perception and tanked uranium prices, forcing many domestic uranium producers to shutter operations.
However, the U.S. is now enjoying a nuclear renaissance, with the sector seeing a resurgence in recent years. Last year, the country produced almost 700,000 pounds of yellowcake, good for a more than a dozen-fold increase from the previous year, thanks to surging uranium prices and favorable government policies. It all began three years ago, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggering a global energy crisis and driving energy prices to historic highs. Suddenly, governments everywhere started encouraging more nuclear energy production to boost national energy security. Meanwhile, the rise of AI data centers, clean energy manufacturing and the cryptocurrency boom triggered a spike in global electricity demand, putting more pressure on power producers. In 2024, the Biden administration provided $2.7 billion in federal funding to expand the country’s uranium enrichment and conversion capacity, shortly after banning the import of Russian uranium. A month ago, President Donald Trump signed four executive orders that will speed up the deployment of nuclear reactors with a goal to quadruple the nation’s nuclear output from 100 GW in 2024 to 400 GW by 2050....
....MUCH MORE
From there the article devolves into a bit of a low-key tout but still interesting. For our money the names to know are Canada's Cameco and, for the more geographically adventurous, the world's largest producer Kazatomprom.
Previously:
Trans-Uranic Express: The First Uranium Boom and Lessons For Today's Investor
Possibly also of interest:
The Geographical Pivot of History
H. J. Mackinder