U.S. imports 99% of uranium it uses in power plants

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) published a brief on January 30, 2025, showing that the U.S. imports nearly all of the uranium concentrate used to power commercial nuclear reactors.

In 2023, U.S. nuclear generators imported 32 million pounds of uranium concentrate and used only 0.05 million pounds of domestically produced concentrate. Imports were 99 percent of the uranium concentrate used by U.S. electric generators, according to the EIA. (That overstates domestic supplies a bit: 50,000 divided by 32,000,000 comes out to 0.0015, or 0.15 percent).

The EIA shows that domestic production was a substantial portion of the uranium that domestic producers used prior to 1990.

The U.S. primarily imports its uranium concentrate for nuclear reactors from Canada, Australia, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. While Australia and Canada are largely secure supplies, Russia is another story. The U.S. banned Russian imports of uranium products beginning in August 2024, though companies may apply for waivers through January 1, 2028.

There are opportunities to bolster U.S. domestic supplies of uranium while recycling nuclear waste into usable fuel. Spent nuclear fuel still contains 95 percent of its potential to produce electricity, and certain types of reactors can use spent fuel after some recycling steps, though commercial-scale recycling isn’t yet economical.