Sufficient uranium resources exist to support the continued use of nuclear power and its significant growth through 2050 and beyond; however, timely investments in new exploration, mining operations and processing techniques will be essential to ensure uranium becomes available to the market when needed.

These are among the main findings of the latest edition of the ‘Uranium 2024: Resources, Production and Demand’ report prepared jointly every two years by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Nuclear Energy Agency and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The report, a global reference, is also commonly known as the Red Book.

The 2024 edition of the Red Book provides the latest comprehensive review of uranium market fundamentals, based on official government data, and delivers a detailed statistical profile of the global uranium industry.

Covering the calendar years 2021 and 2022, it features data on uranium resources, exploration, production and inventories.

The report also includes 62 country profiles, offering insights into mine development plans, the environmental and social dimensions of uranium mining and national regulations and policies.

The Red Book indicates that global identified recoverable uranium resources amounted to 7.93-million tonnes as of January 1, 2023 – an increase of less than 0.5% compared with the resources reported in the 2022 Red Book.

The organisations point out that these represent all reasonably assured and inferred uranium resources that could be recovered at market prices ranging from $40/kg to $260/kg of uranium – equivalent to $15/lb to $100/lb of triuranium octoxide.

Additions to the uranium resource base could, however, arise from undiscovered or unconventional sources, driven by the sharp rise in uranium spot prices since mid-2021 and the commitment first announced during the Conference of the Parties 28 and now signed by 31 countries to triple their nuclear energy capacity by 2050, the organisations say.

Worldwide domestic exploration and mine development expenditures have increased dramatically after a period of decline owing to poor market conditions and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Yearly expenditures reached $800-million in 2022 and preliminary data for 2023 suggest a further increase to $840-million.

Production, meanwhile, increased 4% between 2020 and 2022 and the report suggests the increase will likely continue in coming years.

The Red Book also provides projections for nuclear power installed capacity and uranium requirements through 2050, outlining both low-growth and high-growth scenarios, alongside an assessment of uranium supply and demand adequacy under each scenario.

Although the uranium resource base is considered to be sufficient to meet the needs of a high-growth nuclear capacity through 2050 and beyond, additional investment is needed.

“The establishment of new production centres is anticipated to face significant lead times owing to today's risk-averse investment climate and complex and lengthy regulatory processes in many uranium mining jurisdictions.

“Geopolitical challenges and technical difficulties in developing new mines and milling facilities may further compound the situation. As a result, efforts must begin immediately to ensure adequate uranium supplies are available in the medium term,” the organisations say.