Uranium production, price falls

U.S. uranium concentrate production fell 16% to 2.44 million pounds in 2017, from 2016, declining to the lowest production level since 2.28 million pounds in 2004, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In 1980, production was 43.7 million pounds, but it’s been less than 5 million pounds annually since 1997.

Uranium milling includes extracting uranium ore, crushing it into powder and adding chemicals to it to separate the uranium. White Mesa Mill in Utah produces uranium concentrate from primary mines and from alternate or recycled sources. “The production of uranium concentrate, also known as triuranium octoxide (U3O8), or more commonly as yellowcake, is the first step in the nuclear fuel production process,” according to the EIA. “Uranium concentrate is then converted into uranium hexafluoride (UF6), enriched, fabricated into fuel pellets and loaded into nuclear fuel assemblies.”

Uranium concentrate is produced at seven U.S. facilities. In Nebraska and Wyoming, it’s produced at six in-situ leach plants. In-situ leaching, or in-situ recovery, involves injecting a solution into uranium deposits to create a slurry, and it is pumped into a processing facility where uranium is separated to produce yellowcake.

In 2017, a large amount of domestic uranium concentrate came from alternate sources including conversion facilities and clean-up sites. For decades, White Mesa Mill has recycled nearly 20 sources of alternate feed materials. Recently, these alternate sources have comprised of a larger share of overall uranium production. Some of the uranium concentrate in the recycled materials would have been produced in previous years, and as a result, the amount of uranium produced from primary mining and alternate feeds was less than the 2.44 million pounds that was supplied in 2017.

The spot price of yellowcake is between $20 and $25 per pound, down from the price in 2005 through early 2016, according to the EIA. The declining price and production of uranium “suggests that the operating costs of most U.S. producers are higher than revenues from processing mined uranium deposits.”

In 2016, domestically produced uranium accounted for 11%, or 5.4 million pounds, of the 50.6 million pounds of uranium delivered to U.S. nuclear power plants. Canada, Kazakhstan, Australia and Russia each supplied more uranium to U.S. nuclear power plants in 2016 than the United States. The 2017 Uranium Marketing Annual Report is expected to be released in June.