Nuclear power generation is growing worldwide. At the same time, the price of uranium, the fuel for nuclear power plants, has been falling for over a year.
Forbes looked into the reasons for the decline and the prospects for the uranium market. Nuclear power should reach record growth in 2025, according to a recent report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), which was published under the title “Towards a New Era of Nuclear Energy.” Nuclear power is the leading source of clean and safe electricity worldwide, second only to hydropower in terms of emissions, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol noted in the preface to the report. According to him, interest in the development of nuclear power today is at its highest level since the oil crises of the 1970s, with more than 40 countries supporting its expansion. “Global demand for electricity in the next decade from all sectors – from industrial engineering and electric vehicles to air conditioning and data centers – will grow sixfold,” Birol says. — Nuclear power, along with rapidly expanding solar and wind power, can play a critical role in meeting growing electricity demand reliably and sustainably.”
According to the report, nearly 420 nuclear reactors currently generate just under 10 percent of the world’s electricity. “Despite several countries phasing out nuclear power or retiring plants early, global nuclear power generation is growing as Japan restarts operations, France completes maintenance, and new reactors enter commercial operation in China, India, South Korea, and Europe,” the report says. “An additional 63 nuclear reactors with a combined capacity of more than 70 gigawatts (GW) are currently under construction, one of the highest levels since 1990. In addition, more than 60 more reactors have been extended in the past five years, representing nearly 15 percent of the total nuclear fleet.” Over the past three years, annual investment in nuclear energy, including both new nuclear power plants and life extensions of existing ones, has exceeded $60 billion, an increase of almost 50% compared to 2020, the report notes.
And in December 2023, during the World Climate Action Summit, more than 20 countries signed a declaration of intent to triple the use of nuclear energy worldwide by 2050.