The uranium market, like all commodity markets, has a history of volatility, moving not only with the standard forces of supply and demand, but also to whims of geopolitics. It has also evolved particularities of its own in response to the unique nature and use of this material.
The only significant commercial use for uranium is to fuel nuclear reactors for the generation of electricity. There are 440 reactors operating worldwide, and a total of 60 new reactors that are under construction, with over 150 power reactors (with a total net capacity of some 172,000 MWe) planned and over 340 more proposed (as of August 2011).
Before uranium is ready for use as nuclear fuel in reactors, it must undergo a number of intermediary processing steps which are identified as the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle: mining it (either underground or in open pit mines), milling it into yellowcake, enriching it and finally fuel fabrication to produce fuel assemblies or bundles. This technologically complicated and challenging process is simple in comparison to the complexity of the market that has evolved to provide these three services.
Read more about Uranium Market: Available Supply, Market Operations, The SWU (separative Work Unit), History
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