# Uranium

The dense fuel of nuclear power: a small, opaque market where mining, conversion and enrichment each carry separate supply risks.

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

Natural sources · Earth, gravity and atoms · No. 18

- US critical 2025
- HHI 2,319 · moderately concentrated
 Natural sources · Earth, gravity and atoms · Foundation · Energy

Congo's Shinkolobwe ore was nearly 70% uranium, against about 0.01% elsewhere, and it fuelled the Hiroshima bomb.

Chart: Illustration: Uranium

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Uranium atoms were forged in exploding stars before the Earth existed. Kazakhstan pumps acid through underground sandstone to dissolve it, while Canada mines ultra-rich ore in the Athabasca Basin.

##### Three things to know

1. Splitting heavy atoms releases millions of times more energy per kilogram than burning any chemical fuel.
2. Australia holds the largest uranium resources yet mines only about 8% of world output.
3. Utilities hoard fuel because an idle reactor is so costly: the US held about 42,000 tU at end-2024.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Ore body**Sandstone, unconformity or breccia deposits
2. 2 **Leaching or milling**Acid pumped through rock, or ore crushed
3. 3 **Yellowcake**Concentrated U3O8 powder
4. 4 **Conversion, enrichment**Turned to UF6, U-235 share raised
5. 5 **Fuel assemblies**Pellets packed into reactor fuel
 Covered in [What makes something a commodityCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/what-is-a-commodity/)[Supply, demand and the cost curveCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/supply-demand-costs/)[How commodities tradeCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/how-commodities-trade/)[Criticality and geopoliticsCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/criticality-and-geopolitics/)[Energy, power and the units that measure themEnergy](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/energy/energy-power-units/)[Earth's energy flows: sun, wind, water, heat and lifeEnergy](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/energy/earths-energy-flows/)and 4 more

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## Other sections

- [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)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/uranium/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/uranium/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/uranium/links/index.md)