Uranium Supply

The world must “immediately” make substantial investments in mining uranium to meet surging demand for nuclear energy, according to the latest industry stocktake that highlights the renaissance in the power source. Currently identified uranium resources will be used up by the 2080s under a “high-growth” scenario that assumes nuclear capacity rises in the years to 2050 and then stays elevated, the Nuclear Energy Agency and International Atomic Energy Agency said in their biennial Red Book report released on Tuesday. While “sufficient uranium resources exist” to support this growth “investments in new exploration, mining operations and processing techniques will be essential” to meet the demand, they wrote. “Efforts must begin immediately to ensure adequate uranium supplies are available in the medium term,” they added.