Uranium in Canada

Canada Is the World’s Leader in Uranium

• Canada is the world’s largest producer of natural uranium, providing more than a quarter of total world production from its Saskatchewan mines.
• Over the last three decades, uranium has been an important Canadian energy resource used in nuclear power reactors for the production of clean electricity.
• Clean electricity generated from Canadian uranium worldwide avoids more than 300 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually.
• Uranium is a metal, common and abundant in nature, found in most rocks, soil, rivers, oceans, food and the human body. Uranium is a unique element because of its potential to generate huge amounts of energy.
• Canada’s uranium is used exclusively for the generation of electricity at nuclear power plants. End use is strictly enforced by international non-proliferation agreements and export restrictions.
• The major uranium mining companies in Canada are Cameco Corporation and AREVA Resources Canada Inc.
• Saskatchewan’s McArthur River and Cigar Lake deposits are the world’s richest, with average ore grades more than 100 times the global average for uranium mines. That energy is equivalent to that provided by 18 billion barrels of oil or 5 billion tonnes of coal.
• Saskatchewan’s 674 million pounds of known uranium reserves could meet Ontario’s current electricity demand for more than 70 years.
• Saskatchewan-based Cameco alone accounts for 20% of world uranium production and has a refining facility in Blind River, a conversion facility in Port Hope, and fuel manufacturing facilities in Port Hope and Cobourg, all located in Ontario.
• A number of independent studies have shown that life-cycle emissions for nuclear power plants - including construction, operations, fuel production, decommissioning and waste disposal - are not greater than other non-emitting generation systems such as hydro and wind.
• Rising uranium prices have fuelled a dramatic increase in exploration for uranium in Canada and around the world to meet anticipated future demand.
• The uranium mining industry is a leading employer of aboriginal people. About half of the workers at Canadian uranium mines are aboriginal.
• More energy is contained in Saskatchewan’s uranium reserves than in all known Canadian conventional oil reserves (does not include the Athabasca tar sands).
• Eight pellets of uranium, each smaller than an average adult thumb, contain enough energy to power an average home for about one year.

Data source: Canadian Nuclear Association, 2007