Assessment report on uranium in the United States of America

Technical Report · Wed Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1980

OSTI ID:6993964

Assessment of the uranium resources in the United States as of October 1, 1980, indicates a range of reserves, in mean values, from 645 thousand tons of U/sub 3/O/sub 8/ (in the $30 per pound of U/sub 3/O/sub 8/ cost category) to 1.122 million tons (in the $100 per pound of U/sub 3/O/sub 8/ category). Ranges of potential resources are also shown for the same cost categories: from 885 thousand to over 2 million tons of U/sub 3/O/sub 8/ in the probable class; 346 thousand to over 1 million tons in the possible class; and 311 thousand to nearly 700 thousand tons in the speculative class. There are an estimated 140 thousand tons of U/sub 3/O/sub 8/ that could be recovered as a byproduct of phosphate and copper mining through the year 2009. Production capability studies indicate that the demand could be satisfied from currently estimated resources if there is a transition from current production of lower cost resources to production from the $50 per pound of U/sub 3/O/sub 8/ resources by the mid 1990s. If, due to foreign competition or other market forces, production incentives are not maintained, domestic production potential will not be realized, and the United States could become dependent on foreign sources for much of its U/sub 3/O/sub 8/.

• Research Organization: Department of Energy, Grand Junction, CO (USA). Grand Junction Office
• OSTI ID: 6993964
• Report Number(s): GJO-111(80)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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