Is uranium from unmined deposits the only source for potential future use?
Though the amount of identified unmined uranium is enough for 50 years of current and projected use, “recycled or secondary uranium” derived from previously mined and processed uranium (processed for use in nuclear fuel or weapons) has been a significant and growing source of uranium for reactor use in recent years. Secondary sources include: • Commercial inventories — uranium supplies owned by reactor operators; • Government inventories — uranium supplies owned by governments; • Nuclear weapon/military inventories — uranium supplies in the form of “highly enriched uranium” used in nuclear weapons manufacturing and owned by governments; • Reprocessed uranium and MOX fuel — uranium supplies in used nuclear reactor fuel; • Re-enriched depleted uranium — uranium supplies in residuals from uranium enrichment processing — called “uranium enrichment tailings,” or “depleted uranium.” Uranium from secondary sources such as commercial inventories, weapons-grade uranium stockpiles and, in Russia
