Strategic uranium reserves refer to
uranium
Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weakly ...
inventories held by the government of a particular country, as well as private industry, for the purpose of providing economic and national security during an
energy crisis
An energy crisis or energy shortage is any significant bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In literature, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, in particular, those that supply n ...
.
North America
In the early 1990s, the United States created a temporary strategic uranium reserve. The authorization for this reserve expired in 1998:
''There is hereby established the National Strategic Uranium Reserve under the direction and control of the Secretary. The Reserve shall consist of natural uranium and uranium equivalents contained in stockpiles or inventories currently held by the United States for defense purposes. Effective on October 24, 1992, and for 6 years thereafter, use of the Reserve shall be restricted to military purposes and government research. Use of the Department of Energy’s stockpile of enrichment tails existing on October 24, 1992, shall be restricted to military purposes for 6 years thereafter.
Recently, due to increases in the price of uranium the Department of Energy has considered the creation of a permanent strategic uranium reserve along the lines of the
Strategic Petroleum Reserve (United States), U.S. strategic petroleum reservebr>
Asia
China has announced the creation of a strategic uranium reserve to complement its
strategic petroleum reserves
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is an emergency stockpile of petroleum maintained by the United States Department of Energy (DOE). It is the largest publicly known emergency supply in the world; its underground tanks in Louisiana and Te ...
br>
Japan has also shown interest in creating its own strategic reserve of uraniu
See also
{{Portal, Energy
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Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced ...
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Global strategic petroleum reserves
Global strategic petroleum reserves (GSPR) refer to crude oil inventories (or stockpiles) held by the government of a particular country, as well as private industry, to safeguard the economy and help maintain national security during an energ ...
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Strategic Petroleum Reserve
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List of uranium mines
Uranium production is carried out in about 13 countries around the world, in 2017 producing a cumulative total of 59,462 tonnes of uranium (tU). The international producers were Kazakhstan (39%), Canada (22%), Australia (10%), Namibia (7.1%), Nig ...
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Uranium reserves
Uranium
United States Department of Energy
Energy policy