Global uranium resources are more than adequate to meet projected requirements for nuclear electricity generation, according to the latest edition of a United Nations-backed world reference guide.The guide Uranium 2005: resources, production and demand, jointly prepared by the IAEA and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), estimates the total identified amount of conventional uranium stock, which can be mined for less than $130 per kg, at about 4.7 million tonnes. That, the guide says, is sufficient for 85 years based on the 2004 nuclear electricity generation rate of demand. Fast reactor technology would lengthen this period to over 2,500 years.But world uranium resources in total are considered to be much higher. Based on geological evidence and knowledge of uranium in phosphates, the study says that over 35 million tonnes are available for exploitation. By 2025, world nuclear energy capacity is expected to grow to between 22 and 44 per cent.Worldwide exploration expenditures in 2004 totaled over $130 million, an increase of almost 40 per cent compared to 2002, and close to $200 million in 2005. This can be expected to lead to further additions to the uranium resource base.Reactor designs are being developed and tested that are capable of extracting over 30 times the energy from the uranium than today’s reactors.
