How likely are we going to run out of uranium?

Uranium oxide is slightly soluble in water. So rain falls on the ground, dissolves a minute amount of uranium, runs down rivers carrying the uranium into the sea. There, the sun evaporates water concentrating the uranium. read more

If we make other likely assumptions, such as a transition from nuclear fission to nuclear fusion in the next hundred years, we may get to a point where uranium isn't necessary for power production, in which case we probably won't run out until all the uranium has naturally decomposed (several billions of years). read more

According to the NEA, identified uranium resources total 5.5 million metric tons, and an additional 10.5 million metric tons remain undiscovered—a roughly 230-year supply at today's consumption rate in total. Further exploration and improvements in extraction technology are likely to at least double this estimate over time. read more

Uranium is literally everywhere, in rocks and in oceans. How much of it we can use, depends on how hard we look for it and on what we are willing to pay for it. Let’s start with a moderate estimate of available resources of uranium. On world-nuclear, we see the known supplies of the world: 5.327.000 tonnes. read more