https://www.realclearenergy.org/
Duggan Flanakin is a senior policy analyst at the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow.
As Donald Trump returns to the White House, his nomination of Christopher Wright to serve as Secretary of Energy points to a major effort to revive domestic uranium mining. That’s especially good news, given the Biden Administration’s recent decision to discontinue importing uranium from Russia.
Further complicating the worldwide uranium supply chain, the military authorities in Niger, who now control that nation’s uranium mining operations, are putting the squeeze on French reliance on Niger’s uranium for its nuclear reactors. Niger, which produces about 5% of the world’s uranium, had been supplying 15% to 20% of France’s uranium imports.
Of the 192 million pounds of refined uranium oxide (yellowcake, U3O8) used worldwide in 2023, American reactor owners purchased 51.6 million pounds, and U.S. nuclear reactors loaded 43.9 million pounds in completed fuel assemblies. Russia today accounts for about 44% of world uranium conversion and enrichment capacity.
For the rest of this column: https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2024/12/12/time_to_reinvigorate_the_us_uranium_mining_industry_1078226.html