Owners and operators of U.S. civilian nuclear power reactors purchased from U.S. and foreign suppliers a total of 21,300 tons of uranium deliveries during 2001. The average price paid was $26.39 per kilogram of uranium, a decrease of 16 percent compared with the 1998 price. In year 2001, the U.S. produced 1,018 tons of uranium from 7 mining operations, all of which are west of the Mississippi River.

Uranium is distributed worldwide. Generally, large countries produce more uranium than smaller ones because the worldwide distribution of uranium is very roughly uniform. Canada is the world's largest producer of uranium, with the world's richest deposits in Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan, through three large mines in the Athabasca Basin region, produces over a quarter of the world's uranium. Because of this production, extra capacity, and the close government control of the industry the provincial government plays a central role in setting international uranium prices. Australia also has extensive uranium deposits making up approximately 40% of the world's known uranium reserves. The world's largest single uranium deposit is located at the Olympic Dam Mine in South Australia. [4] [5]

The ultimate supply of uranium is very large. It is estimated that for a ten times increase in price, the supply of uranium that can be economically mined is increased 300 times. See World Uranium Resources.[1]


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium