The United States needs A LOT of uranium.
Even though the country produced 12x more uranium in 2024, the US still needs to produce 5x more.
Last year, the country produced 700,000 pounds.
Yet, America still imported 3.2 Million pounds of uranium.
In the future, it also looks to be A LOT more.
OilPrice.com reports:
“A month ago, President Donald Trump signed four executive orders that will speed up the deployment of nuclear reactors with a goal to quadruple the nation’s nuclear output from 100 GW in 2024 to 400 GW by 2050.”
When you scroll down, you’ll find more in-depth information on why the US has such a large uranium deficit. Plus, three stocks to invest in right now.
One stock is still a buy. I discovered it the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference almost three years ago. Now it’s gone from $4 up to almost $13.
OilPrice.com reports:
Why U.S. Uranium Production Surged 12-Fold In 2024
For decades, the United States has been the world’s biggest producer of nuclear energy, accounting for 30% of global production. The country, however, currently imports 98% of the uranium feedstock it needs to power its 94 nuclear reactors. Indeed, the U.S. accounts for less than 1% of the world’s uranium output, with Kazakhstan, Canada, and Namibia accounting for nearly two-thirds of global production.
But things have not always been this way. The country’s nuclear age peaked in the 1960s to the mid-1980s when it was the leader in uranium production. The downtrend that followed can largely be chalked up to government policy, with Washington de-prioritizing away from the uranium sector, including providing less government funding and subsidies to support it over the years. Meanwhile, several high-profile nuclear accidents took a heavy toll on public perception and tanked uranium prices, forcing many domestic uranium producers to shutter operations.
However, the U.S. is now enjoying a nuclear renaissance, with the sector seeing a resurgence in recent years. Last year, the country produced almost 700,000 pounds of yellowcake, good for a more than a dozen-fold increase from the previous year, thanks to surging uranium prices and favorable government policies. It all began three years ago, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggering a global energy crisis and driving energy prices to historic highs. Suddenly, governments everywhere started encouraging more nuclear energy production to boost national energy security. Meanwhile, the rise of AI data centers, clean energy manufacturing and the cryptocurrency boom triggered a spike in global electricity demand, putting more pressure on power producers. In 2024, the Biden administration provided $2.7 billion in federal funding to expand the country’s uranium enrichment and conversion capacity, shortly after banning the import of Russian uranium. A month ago, President Donald Trump signed four executive orders that will speed up the deployment of nuclear reactors with a goal to quadruple the nation’s nuclear output from 100 GW in 2024 to 400 GW by 2050.
Related: India Looks To Keep Domestic Rare Earth Supply at Home
Finally, the long-dormant uranium mining industry is sputtering to life. Normally, it would typically take years for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to review plans to reopen shuttered uranium mines; however, the bureau’s regulators green-lit the reopening of Anfield Energy’s Velvet-Wood mine in just 11 days, citing a “national energy emergency”. Canada’s Anfield Energy is also looking to reopen the Shootaring Canyon uranium mill after a 40-year shutdown. Uranium mills convert raw uranium ore into yellowcake, a powdery substance that is later processed into nuclear fuel.
“President Trump has made it clear that our energy security is national security. These emergency procedures reflect our unwavering commitment to protecting both,” said Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
Energy Fuels (NYSE:UUUU), another Canadian company, opened the Pinyon Plain mine, located 10 miles from the Grand Canyon, two years ago. Meanwhile, TerraPower is currently building a 345-megawatt fast reactor outside Kemmerer in western Wyoming. More fast approvals for uranium mines are likely on the way, with Trump’s order also applying to oil, gas, coal, hydropower and biofuels–but not renewable energy.
However, the experts are warning that it will take many years before the United States’s uranium mining sector returns to its dominance of yesteryears, if ever, “Even if all the uranium projects in the United States that are currently permitted and operable, we could not satisfy the demand of the United States of America,” says Mark Chalmers, president and CEO of Energy Fuels. The volume of yellowcake that the country churned out in 2024 still falls far short of the 32 million pounds it imported, highlighting the magnitude of the task ahead.
The biggest obstacle to the country realizing its nuclear dream is the fact that the U.S. is home to less than 1% of global uranium reserves. Washington could, however, pursue uranium substitutes like thorium. Thorium comes with key advantages over uranium, including the fact that it produces less waste, has a much higher energy density (one ton of thorium can produce roughly the same amount of energy as 35 to 200 tons of uranium), is meltdown-proof and has no weapons-grade by-products. As an added bonus, thorium reactors can even consume legacy plutonium stockpiles.
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) has developed a thorium-based nuclear fuel dubbed ANEEL (Advanced Nuclear Energy for Enriched Life). ANEEL is a proprietary combination of “High Assay Low Enriched Uranium” (HALEU) and thorium fuel for pressurized heavy-water reactors (PHWRs), which intends to address high costs and toxic waste issues. Early safety tests of ANEEL by scientists at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) have been successful, with irradiated pellets maintaining their structure and integrity after achieving a burnup of 25 gigawatt-days per ton. The tests will continue until spring 2026 wherein the fuel will be studied under higher burnups.
OilPrice.com reports:
These 3 Nuclear Stocks Should Be on Your Energy Radar
Nuclear energy stocks have been on a tear again after U.S. President Donald Trump signed executive orders that will facilitate the expansion of nuclear energy production, including expediting the regulatory approvals for new nuclear reactors. The Trump administration intends to reform the nuclear energy sector by overhauling the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), allowing the DoE to build nuclear reactors on federally-owned land, enhancing research at the U.S. Department of Energy and expanding domestic uranium mining and enrichment.
And, Big Tech companies are seizing this opportunity to secure cheap, abundant power supplies for their power-hungry AI data centers. Shares of America’s leading nuclear power plant operator, Constellation Energy Corp. (NYSE:CEG), have surged more than 15% after the company unveiled on Tuesday an agreement to sell more than 1,100 MW of nuclear power to Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) from its Illinois nuclear plant for 20 years.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the deal is the first deal of its kind for an operating nuclear plant in the United States, and closely mirrors a similar deal Constellation signed with Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) last year. The Microsoft deal is a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) that will see Constellation Energy restart its undamaged reactor in Three Mile Island, which was undergoing decommissioning.
Neither deal will draw power from the main grid. However, Meta appears to have secured a better deal, with Citi’s Ryan Levine estimating that the 20-year PPA is priced in the $70-$95/MWh range, considerably cheaper than Jefferies’ estimate of at least $110/MWh for Microsoft’s PPA, because Meta’s deal “…does not offer a substantial premium for low-carbon nuclear power”. Levine has projected that ~70% of Constellation’s existing nuclear plants could secure comparable datacenter deals at ~$80/MWh.
Constellation is unlikely to be the only nuclear power producer that will see surging power demand under a Trump administration that refuses to put a premium on low-carbon energy. Nuclear stocks have mostly taken a breather after a scorching rally triggered by Russia’s war in Ukraine. However, here are 3 nuclear stocks with significant upside.
Denison Mines Corp.
Consensus Price Target: $4.04
Implied 12- Month Upside Potential: 148%
Denison Mines Corp.(NYSE:DNN) engages in the exploration, acquisition and development of uranium properties in Canada. Denison has become a Wall Street favorite, with BMO analyst Alexander Pearce saying the stock’s price-to-net present value ratio of 0.9x is one of the most attractive in its group, with clear near-term catalysts. Denison boasts one of the sector’s strongest balance sheets, critical for funding modest capital requirements for its 2.2M lbs Phoenix In-Situ Uranium Recovery project.
Last month, Denison reported Q1 2024 revenue of C$1.38M, good for +66.3% Y/Y growth while quarterly loss of $0.03 per share missed the Wall Street consensus by $0.01. The company achieved ~75% completion of total engineering for Phoenix, and has committed $67 million for long-lead capital purchases.
NexGen Energy
Consensus Price Target: $12.85
Implied 12- Month Upside Potential: 102%
NexGen Energy Ltd. (NYSE:NXE), is a Canadian exploration and development stage company that develops uranium properties in Canada. The company holds a 100% interest in the Rook I project in southwestern Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan, totaling an area of ~35,065 hectares. Back in March, NXE shares surged after the company revealed that recent drilling at its Rook I site intersected a rich uranium concentration at its Patterson Corridor East property, the largest development-stage uranium deposit in Canada. According to the company, drillhole RK-25-232 unveiled rich uranium concentration, making it one of the shallowest high-grade intersections at Patterson Corridor.
“Discovering mineralization of this intensity so early in our 2025 program outpaces the success pattern experienced at the Arrow deposit,” CEO Leigh Curyer said.
Paladin Energy
Consensus Price Target: $5.08
Implied 12-Month Upside Potential: 21.5%
Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX:PDN TSX: PDN OTCQX:PALAF) is an independent uranium developer with a 75% stake in Namibia’s Langer Heinrich Mine. Last year, Paladin acquired Canada’s Fission Uranium Corp., with the company now operating an extensive portfolio of uranium assets across Canada. Paladin is positioning itself as a significant player in baseload energy provision in multiple countries across the globe and contributing to global decarbonization.
Last month, Paladin reported Q3 revenue of $60.97M and GAAP EPS of $0.06. Uranium sales for the quarter were 872,000 pounds, at an average price of $69.90 per pound. The Langer Heinrich property produced 745,000 pounds of uranium, good for a 17% increase on the previous quarter’s production to bring total production to over 2 million pounds in the financial year-to-date.
