Signal: The uranium mines are reopening

The directions of major economic powers in terms of energy production keep changing due to several factors. In the US as well as in allied countries, the owners of uranium mines left in conservation have resumed operations to take advantage of the increase in demand for nuclear fuel, reports Bloomberg. At least five US producers have decided to reopen uranium mines in states such as Wyoming, Texas, Arizona and Utah, where production was at a steady pace until governments changed their stance on nuclear power after the Fukushima disaster. Canadian group Cameco has also begun ramping up production at its MacArthur River and Key Lake uranium mines in western Canada's Saskatchewan province, after freezing operations from 2018 to 2021 due to unfavorable market conditions. But now, as governments turn again to nuclear power to meet their emissions targets and uranium producers struggle to meet demand, uranium prices are rising. And this gives the uranium operations, which were no longer profitable, the chance to cover a supply gap. About two-thirds of the world's uranium production comes from Kazakhstan, Canada and Australia. As countries increasingly consider nuclear power to respond to climate change, demand for uranium has exploded. The International Atomic Energy Agency estimates that the world will need more than 100,000 tons of uranium per year in 2040, an amount that requires doubling mining and processing from current levels. The Canadian group Cameco Corp. and the Kazakh Kazatomprom, which together are responsible for half of the world's supply, have had problems increasing production. The companies have warned that there have been some operational blockages that will result in the reduction of uranium production in the coming years. "We're in a classic supply-shortage situation. Demand is picking up again, with new reactors being turned on," says Scott Melbye, vice president at Texas-based Uranium Energy Corp. Production has not kept pace with demand due to years of underinvestment in mining and exploration, says Melbye, whose company decided to reopen mines in Wyoming and Texas that it put into conservation in 2018. Bloomberg points out that the production that will come from these mines, most of which are small and nearing the end of their lives, will represent a small part of the world's uranium supply. The reopening of uranium mines represents a resurgence for an American industry that was in danger of disappearing five years ago. US uranium production hit an all-time low of around 77 tonnes in 2019, from a peak of 22,000 tonnes in 1980, as the US became increasingly dependent on imports from countries such as Canada, Australia, Kazakhstan and Russia.