93% of US nuclear reactors’ uranium foreign-sourced as fuel loading hits 41 mn pounds

Commercial nuclear power plants in the United States loaded 40.9 million pounds of uranium into their reactor cores in 2025. This was a 15 percent drop from the 48.1 million pounds installed during 2024. “Uranium in fuel assemblies loaded into US civilian nuclear power reactors during 2025 contained 40.9 million pounds U3O8e, which is 15% less than the 48.1 million pounds loaded in 2024,” highlighted a report from the US Energy Information Administration. At the same time, power companies expanded their overall fuel reserves. Total commercial uranium stocks increased by 9 percent, reaching 170 million pounds by the end of 2025. These reserves contain material at various technical stages of the nuclear fuel cycle. They include raw uranium undergoing chemical conversion, material undergoing isotopic separation, and finished fuel rods ready for reactor cores. Reactor operators owned 118 million pounds of this total, which is a 3 percent increase over 2024 levels. “Uranium inventories owned by U.S. suppliers (converters, enrichers, fabricators, producers, brokers, and traders) totaled 51 million pounds U3O8e at the end of 2025, up 27% from 2024 year-end levels,” added the report. Over the next decade, American nuclear utilities will require a massive volume of fuel to maintain grid operations. Over the next 10 years, operators project a total baseline demand of 360 million pounds of uranium. Current long-term purchase agreements cover 174 million pounds of this requirement. The remaining 186 million pounds represent unfilled market demand that utilities must secure through new contracts. Preparing raw uranium for power generation Preparing raw uranium for power generation requires distinct chemical and technical processing steps. “In 2025, COOs delivered 32 million pounds U3O8e of natural uranium feed to U.S. and foreign enrichers,” remarked the report. Domestic enrichment plants processed 37 percent of this material. Foreign facilities handled the remaining 63 percent, which included major shipments of 5.5 million pounds to France and 2.4 million pounds to Russia. Isotopic enrichment is measured in separative work units. This metric measures the effort needed to separate fissile uranium-235 from non-fissile isotopes. US utilities purchased 13 million separative work units from four commercial sellers in 2025. “The average price paid by the COOs for the 13 million SWU was $108.70 per SWU in 2025, up 11% from the $97.66 per SWU paid in 2024,” noted the report. Foreign facilities provided 77 percent of these enrichment services. Russian enrichers supplied 26 percent of the total, followed by France at 18 percent, the United Kingdom at 14 percent, and the Netherlands at 8 percent. US enrichment facilities supplied the remaining 23 percent. Procurement volume declined but transaction costs increased Overall uranium procurement declined in volume, but transaction costs increased. “The 2025 total of 46.9 million pounds U3O8e was 16% lower than the 2024 total of 55.9 million pounds U3O8e,” concluded the report. However, the weighted-average price rose 11 percent, moving from $52.71 per pound in 2024 to $58.46 per pound in 2025. Long-term contracts accounted for 87 percent of total deliveries at an average price of $55.91 per pound. Spot market purchases made up 13 percent of deliveries at a much higher average price of $76.01 per pound. Operators also signed 22 new purchase contracts during the year, securing 4 million pounds for 2025 delivery at an average cost of $70.46 per pound. Foreign mining operations supplied 93 percent of all uranium delivered to US reactors, while domestic production accounted for just 7 percent. Canadian facilities served as the leading supplier by providing 32 percent of all deliveries. Kazakhstan followed closely with 28 percent, while Australia supplied 15 percent. Uzbekistan provided 7 percent and Namibia supplied 4 percent. Specific delivery numbers for Russian-origin material were withheld by regulators to protect commercial confidentiality. Data from the Euratom Supply Agency shows that Canadian and Kazakh mining operations also remained the primary uranium suppliers for European power utilities throughout the same period. Get the latest in engineering, tech, space & science - delivered daily to your inbox.An active and versatile journalist and news editor. He has covered regular and breaking news for several leading publications and news media, including The Hindu, Economic Times, Tomorrow Makers, and many more. Aman holds expertise in politics, travel, and tech news, especially in AI, advanced algorithms, and blockchain, with a strong curiosity about all things that fall under science and tech.