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Demand
As of January 2006, 440 reactors were in operation worldwide, with 82 new reactors planned to be constructed within the next ten years. Demand for nuclear electricity generation is growing worldwide, since world nuclear generating capacity continues to expand as more reactors are built than are closed, and existing reactors are being operated at higher capacity. Reactors in the United States, for example, increased operational capacity from an average of 58% in 1980 to approximately 90% in 2005. With these increases in demand, it is estimated by Cameco (Cameco 2005 Annual Report) that annual uranium fuel consumption in the western world will reach 217 million pounds in 2015.
Supply
Uranium supply sources include primary mine production and secondary sources. Principal primary producers of uranium include Cameco (approximately 19.4% of global mine production in 2005) and AREVA, both of which produce principally from deposits in the Athabasca Basin of northern Saskatchewan. In 2005, worldwide annual fuel consumption totaled approximately 175 million pounds U3O8 while world primary production was approximately 108 million pounds U3O8. The resulting shortfall has been covered by several secondary sources including excess inventories held by utilities, producers, other fuel cycle participants, reprocessed uranium and plutonium derived from used reactor fuel, and uranium derived from the dismantling of Russian nuclear weapons. These secondary sources will decline in importance as excess inventories and recycled uranium from nuclear weapons are progressively consumed over the next decade, resulting in the need for further primary mine supply. New uranium production is likely to come from deposits in Canada, Australia, Africa, Kazakhstan and the United States. Most deposits generally have much lower grades than the high-grade deposits in the Athabasca Basin, and consequently it is anticipated that the new supply will come at higher cost, which is expected to put further upward pressure on the uranium price over the next several years.
"By expanding our use of nuclear power, we can make our energy supply more reliable, our environment cleaner and our nation more secure for future generations." --- President George Bush
Canada should expand nuclear power by more than 50 per cent over the next four decades as a key part of a made-in-Canada climate change plan ---A national advisory group urged June 21, 2006
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