Who has and who mines uranium?

Who has and who mines uranium?

Uranium is widespread in many rocks, and even in seawater. However, like other metals, it is seldom sufficiently concentrated to be economically recoverable. Where it is, we speak of an orebody. In defining what is ore, assumptions are made about the cost of mining and the market price of the metal. Uranium reserves are therefore calculated as tonnes recoverable up to a certain cost.

Australia's reasonably assured resources of uranium are 732,000 tonnes U recoverable at up to US$80/kg U (well under the market 'spot' price), Canada's are 345,000 tonnes U. Australia's resources in this category are about 27% of the world's total, Canada's 13%.

Although it has more than any other country, Australia is not the only one with major deposits. Others in order are: Kazakhstan (17% of world total), Canada, USA, South Africa, Namibia, Brazil, Niger and Russia. Many more countries have smaller deposits which could be mined if needed.

Despite being so well-endowed with uranium reserves, political factors mean that Canada is well in front of Australia as the main supplier of uranium to world markets.

Uranium is sold only to countries which are signatories of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and which allow international inspection to verify that it is used only for peaceful purposes. Customer countries for Australia's uranium must also have a bilateral safeguards agreement with Australia. Canada has similar arrangements.

Australian exports in 2005 amounted to over 12,000 tonnes of U₃O₈ valued at nearly A$600 million. This was about 24% of world mine production of uranium. Canada produced almost 14,000 tonnes of U₃O₈ in 2005, about one third of world production and mostly for export.

Other uses of nuclear energy

Many people, when talking about nuclear energy, have only nuclear reactors (or perhaps nuclear weapons) in mind. Few people realise the extent to which the use of radioisotopes has changed our lives over the last few decades.

Using relatively small special-purpose nuclear reactors it has become possible to make a wide range of radioactive materials (radioisotopes) at low cost. For this reason the use of artificially produced radioisotopes has become widespread since the early 1950s, and there are now some 270 "research" reactors in 59 countries producing them.

Radioisotopes

In our daily life we need food, water and good health. Today, radioactive isotopes play an important part in the technologies that provide us with all three. They are produced by bombarding small amounts of particular elements with neutrons.

In medicine, radioisotopes are widely used for diagnosis and research. Radioactive chemical tracers emit gamma radiation which provides diagnostic information about a person's anatomy and the functioning of specific organs. Radiotherapy also employs radioisotopes in the treatment of some illnesses, such as cancer. More powerful gamma sources are used to sterilise syringes, bandages and other medical equipment. About one person in two in the western world is likely to experience the benefits of nuclear medicine in their lifetime, and gamma sterilisation of equipment is almost universal.

In the preservation of food, radioisotopes are used to inhibit the sprouting of root crops after harvesting, to kill parasites and pests, and to control the ripening of stored fruit and vegetables. Irradiated foodstuffs are accepted by world and national health authorities for human consumption in an increasing number of countries. They include potatoes, onions, dried and fresh fruits, grain and grain products, poultry and some fish. Some prepacked foods can also be irradiated.

In the growing of crops and breeding livestock, radioisotopes also play an important role. They are used to produce high yielding, disease-resistant and weather-resistant varieties of crops, to study how fertilisers and insecticides work, and to improve the productivity and health of domestic animals.

Industrially, and in mining, they are used to examine welds, to detect leaks, to study the rate of wear of metals, and for on-stream analysis of a wide range of minerals and fuels.

There are many other uses. A radioisotope derived from the plutonium formed in nuclear reactors is used in most household smoke detectors.

Radioisotopes are used by police to fight crime, in detecting and analysing pollutants in the environment, to study the movement of surface water and to measure water runoffs from rain and snow, as well as the flow rates of streams and rivers.

Other reactors

There are also other uses for reactors. Over 200 small nuclear reactors power some 150 ships, mostly submarines, but ranging from icebreakers to aircraft carriers. These can stay at sea for long periods without having to make refuelling stops . In the Russian Arctic where operating conditions are beyond the capability of conventional icebreakers , very powerful nuclear-powered vessels operate almost year-round, where previously only two months could be used each year.

The heat produced by nuclear reactors can also be used directly rather than for generating electricity. In Sweden and Russia, for example, it is used to heat buildings and to provide heat for a variety of industrial processes such as water desalination. Nuclear desalination is likely to be a major growth area in future.