U.S. Uranium Output Hit an All-Time Low in 2019. Does It Matter?

Nuclear power might have a tough time shaking off its label as the uckly duckling of zero-carbon energy, but the industry has proven surprisingly resilient. 

Despite a handful of reactor closures in recent years, the United States generated a record amount of electricity from its atomic fleet in 2019. Nuclear power provides roughly 20% of the nation's total electricity and remains the most efficient power source available. The nation's fleet operated at full capacity 93.5% of the time last year -- well ahead of the next-closest major power source, natural gas, which reached peak capacity 56.8% of the time. 

There's just one potential problem for American nuclear power: virtually all of the fuel needed to operate reactors is imported. The United States imported an estimated 91% of the fuel consumed in nuclear power plants in 2019, although the reliance on foreign materials is likely to increase. That's because the country produced just 174,000 pounds of uranium concentrate last year -- half the previous all-time low set in 1949 -- but requires over 43 million pounds to keep its fleet running each year. 

Continue reading

Source Fool.com