# Uranium: Characteristics

Why natural uranium must be enriched for most reactors

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/uranium/characteristics/

What this tab covers The supply and physical characteristics of the commodity. Supply: current production, inventories and stocks, capacity utilisation, geographic and producer concentration, how fast supply responds to price, the project pipeline and capital spending, and logistics and export flows. Material: the physical and chemical properties that set its grade, price and end uses (for example purity and conductivity for metals, API gravity, sulfur and energy content for fuels, moisture, protein and fibre quality for crops).

#### Supply volume characteristics

| Characteristic | Figure | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Current production volume** | 60,213 tU mined (71,006 t U3O8) in 2024 | In situ leaching gave 55% of output, conventional mines 40% and by-products 5%. Kazakhstan produced about 38% of world U3O8. | World Nuclear Association 2024; World Mining Data 2026 |
| **Inventory and stock levels** | utility stocks of roughly 2-3 years of reactor needs in the US and Europe, and more in China (indicative) | Fuel is a small part of nuclear cost, so utilities hold large stocks. Secondary supplies (inventories, down-blended weapons material, re-enriched tails) met 10% of demand in 2024, down from 24% in 2022. | US EIA Uranium Marketing Annual Report (indicative); World Nuclear Association |
| **Capacity utilisation** | mine output met about 90% of reactor requirements (2024); reactor capacity factor about 80% worldwide (indicative) | Several large mines run below licensed capacity. Kazatomprom produces below its subsoil-use limits and has trimmed plans for sulphuric acid shortages and market reasons (indicative). Conversion and enrichment capacity outside Russia is tight. | World Nuclear Association; World Nuclear Performance Report (indicative); Kazatomprom (indicative) |
| **Geographic and producer concentration** | Kazakhstan 38.4%, top-3 (Kazakhstan, Canada, Namibia) 74.2%, HHI 2,319; top-5 companies about 70% | Kazatomprom (13,600 tU attributable, 2025), Cameco (10,193 tU), Orano (6,815 tU), Uranium One (5,829 tU) and CGN (5,761 tU) together produced about 70% of 2024 mine output (company years differ, indicative). Enrichment is even more concentrated, with Russia's Rosatom a large share. | World Mining Data 2026; company reports via this tile's lessons |
| **Supply elasticity** | short run: very low; long run: 10-15 years or more from discovery to production (indicative) | Licensing and permitting are slow. Idled mines can restart in 1-3 years, as Langer Heinrich in Namibia did in 2024 (indicative). Price spikes come because demand is fixed by reactors. | World Nuclear Association (indicative); this tile's lessons |
| **Project pipeline and CapEx** | exploration and development spending about $840 million in 2023 | Projects include NexGen's Rook I (Arrow) and Denison's Wheeler River in Saskatchewan and restarts in the US and Namibia (indicative). India plans to raise nuclear capacity to 100 GW by 2047 (Government of India Budget 2025, indicative). | OECD-NEA/IAEA Red Book 2024 via ANS; company announcements (indicative) |
| **Logistics and export flows** | most mined uranium is traded; ore and concentrate exports worth about $1.1 billion (2023, reported) | Yellowcake moves in sealed drums by container ship and rail to the few conversion plants in Canada, France, the US, Russia and China. Kazakh uranium increasingly uses the Trans-Caspian route rather than Russian ports (indicative). India imports most of its fuel. | UN Comtrade 2023; this tile's lessons; route indicative |

#### Material characteristics Industrial mineral

Uranium is traded as yellowcake (U3O8) and valued for its fissile isotope, U-235. Natural uranium has only 0.711% U-235, so most reactors need it enriched. Purity limits at the conversion stage, and the amount of separative work needed, set the cost of turning ore into fuel. The energy packed into each tonne is enormous.

| Property | Value / specification | Why it matters | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| **U-235 content** | natural 0.711%; light-water reactor fuel 3-5%; HALEU up to just under 20% | Enrichment level sets fuel cost and reactor type; India's PHWRs burn natural uranium | IAEA; World Nuclear Association |
| **Concentrate grade** | U3O8 about 85% U by mass (1 kg U3O8 = 0.848 kg U; 1 lb U3O8 = 0.385 kg U) | Price is quoted per pound of U3O8 | ASTM C967; conversion factors |
| **Impurities** | limits on elements such as boron, vanadium, molybdenum, halides and moisture | Converters charge penalties or reject concentrate above specification | ASTM C967 |
| **Energy yield** | about 42 GWh of electricity per tonne of natural uranium (2,818 TWh from about 67,000 tU, 2024) | A tiny fuel mass powers a reactor for 18-24 months | Derived from Energy Institute 2025 and WNA 2024 |
| **Fuel pellet density** | UO2 about 10.96 g/cm3 theoretical; pellets about 95% of that | Density and burnup limits set fuel design | IAEA (indicative) |
| **Ore grade** | Athabasca Basin often above 10% U3O8; most other deposits 0.03-0.3% | Grade sets mining cost and radiation management | World Nuclear Association (indicative) |

## Other sections

- [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/uranium/index.md)
- [Energy overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/uranium/energy/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/uranium/correlation/index.md)
- [How energy resides](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/uranium/resides/index.md)
- [Abundance](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/uranium/abundance/index.md)
- [Fluctuation in time](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/uranium/time/index.md)
- [Across the Earth](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/uranium/geography/index.md)
- [Impact on nature](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/uranium/nature/index.md)
- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/uranium/overview/index.md)
- [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/uranium/extraction/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/uranium/production/index.md)
- [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/uranium/stocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/uranium/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/uranium/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/uranium/movement/index.md)
- [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/uranium/criticality/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/uranium/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/uranium/links/index.md)