Energy in the 1980s - Natural sources of nuclear fuel

• Published in: Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Mathematical and physical sciences 1974-05, Vol.276 (1261), p.495-505
• Main Author: Bowie, Stanley Hay Umphray
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0080-4614; 2054-0272
• DOI: 10.1098/rsta.1974.0034

Reserves, resources, potential resources (or potential) are defined and related to price categories and it is deduced that sufficient uranium is available from reserves (866 000 tonnes U) at a price of less than $20/kg U3Og to meet estimated demands to the end of the 1970s. However, this will mean rehabilitating mines that have shut down and commissioning new or regenerating old refining plant. There is a risk of a shortage of uranium by the mid 1980s if safeguards are not taken in time to ensure that uranium can be made available from reserves and estimated additional resources (916000 t U) in the < $20/kg U3Os price category presently indicated as being in the ground. Resources in the price range $20-30/kg U3Os are over 10® t U and in the $30-60/kg U3Os are of the same order or more. It is considered that prospecting on a world-wide basis should be increased appreciably and maintained at a reasonable level. Also, that new search techniques should be developed and applied mainly to the discovery of hidden ore-bodies. If this is done in good time, there is no reason to predict any absolute shortage of relatively low-cost uranium this century. Thorium has a potential in high-temperature gas-cooled reactors. Currently known resources are of the order of 10® t ThO a