Nuclear power is unique among energy sources in that its fuel commodity, uranium, is a mineral resource.  This presentation will address the current status of the uranium resource base as well as prospects for how it will evolve into the future.  Both conventional and unconventional resources will be considered, with particular attention paid to uranium recovery from seawater.  It will be shown that, even in the event that conventional uranium resources prove scarce, unconventional resources including seawater and phosphate deposits may enter production with only a modest impact on the economic competitiveness of the nuclear industry.   In addition, adequate supplies of an alternate nuclear fuel, thorium, could become available through co-production at existing rare earth, titanium and tin recovery operations.  Finally, prospects for other elements and isotopes critical to nuclear technologies � from zirconium for nuclear fuel cladding to helium-3 for neutron detectors � will be reviewed.

Critical materials for nuclear technologies

248th National Meeting (2014)

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