Uranium Supply-Demand Projections Through 2030
Forecast international uranium supply shortage.
Global demand to reduce greenhouse gases and produce clean, affordable energy.
Escalating nuclear energy programs in nations such as China, Russia, India, UK.
Significant factors that are converging to create a worldwide nuclear resurgence.
According to the World Nuclear Association (WNA), nuclear power has been the world’s fastest growing major source of energy in every decade since 1960. Today, 30 nations representing two-thirds of humanity use nuclear power to produce 15% of global electricity. There are plans to build more than 480 new reactors in both developed and developing nations over the next 20 years.
A driving force in this resurgence is global concern to curb greenhouse gases. The world economy’s emission rate is 29 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per year according to the WNA. Conversely, if the amount of electricity generated by the current worldwide fleet of nuclear reactors was produced by coal-fired power stations, an additional 2.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide would be released into the atmosphere each year. If all of the world’s current electricity needs were met with nuclear power, we estimate that could prevent almost 12 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere every year.
Uranium is the primary material fabricated into fuel for nuclear power plants. Global supply is forecast to fall short of demand by 2014 in the face of rising energy consumption. Growth in supply will be dependent on new uranium discoveries – leading to a sustainable nuclear renaissance.
For information resources and external links
American Nuclear Society
Canadian Nuclear Association
Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
Nuclear Energy Institute
The Nuclear Energy Agency
TradeTech
Uranium Miner
Ux Consulting Company
World Nuclear Association
Source: World Nuclear Association (WNA) is an independent, international private-sector organization that seeks to support the global nuclear energy industry by facilitating interaction on technical, commercial and policy matters and by promoting wider public understanding of nuclear technology.