Energy Fuels to Sell $18.5 Million in Uranium to U.S. Reserve

By Robb M. Stewart

Energy Fuels Inc. has secured a contract to sell $18.5 million of natural uranium concentrates to the U.S. government for the establishment of a strategic uranium reserve.

The uranium mining company said Friday it expects to complete the sale for the reserve to the National Nuclear Security Administration, an office within the Department of Energy, from its inventory held at the Metropolis Works Conversion Facility in Illinois. The sale doesn't involve the physical movement of uranium, so a sale and transfer can be completed quickly, Energy Fuels said.

The NNSA has been tasked with purchasing domestic uranium for a reserve intended to be a backup source of supply for domestic nuclear power plants in the event of a significant market disruption.

"U.S. and European nuclear industries are actively working to shift away from Russian uranium supply, but the process will be difficult and lengthy. The U.S. can rely on supply from allies like Canada, Australia and others for a large proportion of our uranium and nuclear fuel supply, but we must also restore our own capabilities," Energy Fuels President and Chief Executive Mark Chalmers said.

Additionally, the company said it has applied for membership in the DOE's newly created HALEU Consortium, a program managed intended to help create a secure domestic supply of high-assay, low-enriched uranium used by many of the next generation of nuclear-reactor technologies.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 16, 2022 07:32 ET (12:32 GMT)

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