The United Kingdom wants to be a leader in nuclear fuel production.
What’s happening:
- The United Kingdom government has announced a historic move to commit €300M into high assay low enriched uranium production
- The new investment will make the United Kingdom the first country in Europe to launch a high tech initiative for high assay low enriched uranium
By the numbers:
- The United Kingdom has publicly stated they are aiming to produce 24 gigawatts of clean nuclear power by 2050
- This would represent approximately 25% of the United Kingdom’s electricity needs
Why it matters:
- Most advanced nuclear reactors require high assay low enriched uranium, however Russia is currently the main commercial producer of that in Europe
- By building out their own infrastructure for uranium production, the United Kingdom is looking to move closer towards total energy independence and also supply the rest of the world with uranium for nuclear power plants
Going deeper:
- Global governments have been racing to ramp up both uranium production and rapidly build out nuclear power infrastructure to get closer to net zero emissions
- The increase in capital inflows into uranium have been rampant, leading to a supply and demand dislocation in physical uranium and a flurry of deals to secure promising potential high grade uranium deposits
