Recent Developments in Uranium Exploration, Production and Environmental Issues

The uranium industry is in a period of transition. In Europe, the industry is in transition from uranium production to site rehabilitation. The WISMUT project in Germany, which is featured in this publication, is the largest and one of the most advanced rehabilitation projects in the world. By contrast, other countries such as China, India and Argentina are expanding their industries to meet growing uranium demand. Activities in these countries, which are also described in this publication, range from new project licensing to the application of new technology to increase productivity and lower costs at existing operations. Changes within the uranium industry are nowhere more evident than in the marketplace, where the price of uranium has more than doubled in the past two years. There is a discussion of the reasons for this price rise and of the adequacy of production capacity to meet reactor uranium requirements.