Strategic uranium reserves
Encyclopedia
Strategic uranium reserves refer to uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...

 inventories held by the government of a particular country, as well as private industry, for the purpose of providing economic and national security during an energy crisis
Energy crisis
An energy crisis is any great bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In popular literature though, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, particularly those that supply national electricity grids or serve as fuel for vehicles...

.

North America

In the early 1990s, the United States created a temporary strategic uranium reserve. The authorization for this reserve expired in 1998:

There is hereby established the National Strategic Uranium Reserve under the direction and control of the Secretary. The Reserve shall consist of natural uranium and uranium equivalents contained in stockpiles or inventories currently held by the United States for defense purposes. Effective on October 24, 1992, and for 6 years thereafter, use of the Reserve shall be restricted to military purposes and government research. Use of the Department of Energy’s stockpile of enrichment tails existing on October 24, 1992, shall be restricted to military purposes for 6 years thereafter.http://www2.law.cornell.edu/uscode/uscode42/usc_sec_42_00002296---b001-.html

Recently, due to increases in the price of uranium the Department of Energy has considered the creation of a permanent strategic uranium reserve along the lines of the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve
Strategic Petroleum Reserve
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is an emergency fuel storage of oil maintained by the United States Department of Energy.- United States :The US SPR is the largest emergency supply in the world with the current capacity to hold up to ....

.http://www.upi.com/Energy/Briefing/2007/05/08/us_uranium_sales_down_as_price_soars/

Asia

China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 has announced the creation of a strategic uranium reserve to complement its strategic petroleum reserves.http://www.fnarena.com/index2.cfm?type=dsp_newsitem&n=06D76432-17A4-1130-F55DCD229C5A7866

Japan has also shown interest in creating its own strategic reserve of uranium.http://www.princeton.edu/~globsec/publications/pdf/5_1leventhal.pdf

See also

  • Nuclear power
    Nuclear power
    Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...

  • Global strategic petroleum reserves
    Global strategic petroleum reserves
    Global strategic petroleum reserves refer to crude oil inventories held by the government of a particular country, as well as private industry, for the purpose of providing economic and national security during an energy crisis...

  • Strategic Petroleum Reserve
    Strategic Petroleum Reserve
    The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is an emergency fuel storage of oil maintained by the United States Department of Energy.- United States :The US SPR is the largest emergency supply in the world with the current capacity to hold up to ....

  • List of uranium mines
  • Uranium reserves
    Uranium reserves
    Uranium reserves are reserves of recoverable uranium, regardless of isotope, based on a set market price. The list given here is based on Uranium 2009: Resources, Production and Demand, a joint report by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency and the International Atomic Energy Agency published in 2010....

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