Uranium: Resources, Production, and Market-2009 Red Book

The "Red Book" has been compiled since the mid-1960s as a joint OECD/NEA and IAEA publication. The analysis presents an overview of present uranium supply and demand with perspectives reaching as far as 2035. Data from 35 countries were accumulated about exploration, resources, production, and prices. The 23(rd) edition contains the most recent basic evaluations of the world uranium market, providing a profile of nuclear fuel supply. Forecasts of nuclear generating capacity and uranium requirement for reactor use up until 2035 are presented along with a discussion of uranium supplies and aspects of demand beyond that time frame. Worldwide expenditures for the exploration of uranium resources in 2008 to-taled more than US$ 1.6 billion, which is a 133 % increase over expenses in 2006. Most of the important producer countries reported rising expenses for exploration as well as for commissioning new production centers. The total "identified" (=reasonably assured and inferred) reserves as of January 1, 2009 in the <$130/kg U (<$50/lb U(3)O(8)) category decreased slightly to 5,404,000 t U while a clear increase to 6,306,300 t U was seen in the re-introduced "high cost" category (<$260/kg U or <$100/lb U(3)O(8)). Uranium production in 2008 amounted to 43,880 t U, which is an increase of 6% over 2007 (41,244 t U), and of 11% over 2006 (39,617 t U). In 2008, worldwide uranium production (43,880 t U) covered roughly 74 % of the worldwide requirement for use in reactors (59,065 t U). The balance was met out of secondary sources.