It’s a supply-versus-demand imbalance that has completely gotten out of hand.
Calling it a supply crunch or deficit doesn’t fully describe what’s happening in the U.S. nuclear industry today, in my opinion.
Non-existent really isn’t an exaggeration, as the nation continues to struggle just to get a sliver of the global uranium industry pie.
To put it bluntly, it’s a misconception that America’s nuclear plants use domestically produced uranium.
The owners and operators of U.S. nuclear power reactors purchased the equivalent of about 48.9 million pounds of uranium in 2020, but unfortunately, they remain highly reliant on foreign sources for that uranium:
- 22% from Kazakhstan
- 22% from Canada
- 16% from Russia
- 11% from Australia
- 8% from Uzbekistan
- 5% from Namibia
America is so dependent on other nations – some of them less friendly than others – for such an essential energy source.
This is a truly unsettling scenario: nuclear power plants provide roughly 20% of the electricity in the U.S., yet domestic uranium output is minuscule.

Courtesy: Seeking Alpha
Asian nations are working around the clock to grow their nuclear footprint, thereby putting the U.S. at an even greater disadvantage in the race to adopt clean, sustainable energy.
Kazatomprom slashed its 2020 uranium production forecast by up to 10.4 million pounds – equivalent to 8% of the global supply at that time – due to government-imposed measures to mitigate the spread of the virus, so the supply side got even tighter.
Today, the United States imports more than 90% of the uranium that it uses, and as you can imagine, the last thing the U.S. government wants is for the country to compromise its energy security by depending on foreign-sourced uranium.
Moreover, this is taking place at the worst possible timing since the nation’s electricity demand, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, will increase by 24% by the year 2035.

Courtesy: Seeking Alpha
This means that the country will require hundreds of new nuclear power plants in order to maintain America’s current living standards and expectations for economic growth, in my view.
After falling below the crucial $20 mark in 2017, it has made a comeback.
By the summer of 2021, uranium topped $32 per pound.
The answer is to have uranium producers on U.S. soil. The lack of local production is negatively impacting the nation politically, economically, and even in America’s safety and security.
Research Uranium Energy Corp (NYSE: UEC)! Download its full presentation HERE!
Disclosure/Disclaimer:
So someone please explain to me why HRC “sold” a large percentage of our nation’s uranium supply to Russia…?
So why did Hillary sell Uranium One to Russia?
Galen Winsor – What stopped plutonium economy?
youtube.com/watch?v=8VvGw1tkT1Q
Due diligence required here.
Funny the promoters of this company cite a chart from Seeking Alpha. But if you go to Seeking Alpha they have an article from 2 months ago that says to avoid this company. It has no reserves and only about 3 years of production resources, yet they keep issuing equity. Why? Maybe to pay current salaries? Sounds almost like a ponzi.
Rick Rule even says to keep away from US producers. Regulations are bad and they are not competitive at current prices.
YMMV
F&%K Nuke power. Go back to coal and stop breeding like roaches.
With modern control technologies coal is burned with near zero air pollution byproducts (CO2 is not a pollutant). However, does your statement imply you have a solution how to treat all the coal ash laden with toxic heavy metals, and where to bury it all?
Bury it the same place you bury nuke waste. Much safer.
I keep reading about thorium reactors, much safer, stable, in that they can not “China syndrome”. Thorium is also a abundant element compared to uranium (The Thorium Energy Alliance estimates “there is enough thorium in the United States alone to power the country at its current energy level for over 1,000 years) and the reactor “burns” U232 PU238 isotopes, neither good for weapons production. The waste generated is orders of magnitude less than Uranium/plutonium reactors. We turned our back on these reactors because of military and big business decisions. The military wanted the by-products of the breeder reactor and big business (GE, Westinghouse) had money spent developing the uranium based designs and wanted to get some payback on their investments.
I agree.
Thorium reactors are always “20 years out until commercial viability”. But that 20 years never seems to get any closer, so I have doubts we will ever see them.