The vast majority of uranium delivered to the United States in 2021 was of foreign origin, with Kazakhstan being the leading source with 35% of total deliveries.
According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the material of Canadian origin represented the second material with 14.8% of the total and Australia the third with 14.4% of the total deliveries.
COOs purchased three types of uranium materials for 2021 delivery from 32 vendors.
United States civil nuclear power reactor owners and operators (civilian owner/operators or COOs) purchased a total of 46.7 million pounds of U3O8e (equivalent) from deliveries from United States and foreign suppliers during 2021, at a price weighted average of 33.91 dollars per pound U3O8e.
While the 2021 total of 46.7 million pounds U3O8e was 4% lower than the 2020 total of 48.9 million pounds U3O8e, the 2021 weighted price averaged $33.91 per pound U3O8e, 2% higher than the 2020 weighted average price of $33.27 per pound for U3O8e.
Uranium purchased by owners and operators of the U.S. civilian nuclear power reactors by origin country and delivery year, 2017–2021
During 2021, 19% of delivered uranium was purchased under spot contracts at a weighted average price of 30.56 per pound.
Uranium
The remaining 81% was purchased under long-term contracts at a weighted average price of $34.71 per pound.
Spot contracts are generally contracts with a single delivery of uranium for the entire contract, with delivery occurring within one year of contract execution (signed date).
Likewise, long-term contracts are with one or more deliveries of uranium to be made at least one year after the execution of the contract (signature date) and, as such, may reflect some short- and medium-term agreements, as well as in the longer term.
In 2021, the COOs signed 27 new purchase contracts with 2021 deliveries of 3.6 million pounds U3O8e at a weighted average price of $32.53 per pound.
COOs report minimum and maximum quantities of future deliveries under contract to allow the option to decrease or increase quantities.
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element on the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. An atom of uranium has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium has the highest atomic weight of any naturally occurring element, according to the Department of Energy.
