FUEL & FUEL CYCLE | US URANIUM


On top of that, China is doing a massive nuclear buildout right now, looking to add about 150 reactors in the next decade – and they don’t produce uranium either. This is going to put a lot of stress on the entire uranium sector around the world, especially Western supply. You see [China’s] alignment with Russia and Kazakhstan, and that supply, which was once coming west, is now starting to flow east. That is going to put a huge strain on the entire nuclear fuel supply chain. We are starting to see long-term prices tick up, and as this supply demand deficit starts to grow, it is only going to add more pressure upwards to uranium prices. So, I do see a future with higher spot and higher long-term prices coming in the next five years.


NEI: In addition to the Aurora and Cordex uranium assets, Eagle already owns SMR technology. Where is the company looking to position itself within the supply chain? MM: We are definitely not just a uranium company; we are building an integrated nuclear company. We want to build the backbone of the US’ clean energy, and it is really exciting that we have this SMR technology. What differentiates us [Eagle Energy Metals] is that we have fuel supply as well. It is going to be difficult to get uranium, but for us to have that line of sight onto supply is such a big deal.


NEI: Tell us more about the SMR technology – what stage is it at and what are its potential applications? MM: We have two different reactors in concept design. One is a microreactor [the Eagle VSLLIM, a sodium-cooled fast reactor], which is up to 3.3 MWe in capacity. Then, there is a small modular reactor [Eagle SLLIM] that is up to 33 MWe. We are able to cover a broad range of applications; the


Above: Graphic showing the Aurora mine site in the US


Currently, around half of the US’ uranium imports come


from Canada and Australia, with the remainder from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Russia. Part of the executive orders in May was the invoking of the Defense Production Act; that is how important it is to rebuild the US domestic supply chain. There has been chronic underinvestment in uranium


since Fukushima. Uranium prices came down, and there wasn’t enough exploration work, permitting work or new supply coming online. Now, we are in this golden age of nuclear, but we need the uranium to power that. We are seeing these executive orders come down – and that is a great step – but, right now, they are more focused on nuclear fuel supply. I think it is just a matter of time before we start seeing even more focus upstream onto the uranium side of things.


Right: A radial cross- sectional view of the SLIMM reactor core developed by Eagle Energy Metals


NEI: Looking ahead, with the anticipated growth of SMRs supporting AI/data centres, how do you see uranium market dynamics changing? MM: We are already starting to see a supply deficit forming when it comes to uranium. US demand alone is at 50mlb per year now. The administration was talking about quadrupling nuclear power by 2050. If that were to happen, that is 200mlb per year just in the US, or equivalent to the entire global demand today.


24 | October 2025 | www.neimagazine.com


smaller design is great for remote communities, mine sites and military applications, and the larger one is for larger communities, or that data centre demand, which we see really taking off here [in the US]. There is a global resurgence for nuclear power. More than 30 countries are wanting to triple their nuclear power capacity by 2050, so it is not just a US story. All these countries are starting to realise that nuclear is carbon-free, reliable, baseload energy, and it is just going to put pressure on uranium that goes into these reactors. ■


Emergency shutdown assembly of B4


C rods with BeO followers


LM heat pipe spreaders


Assembly of enriched UN fuel


rods with scalloped BeO shroud wall


Rx guard vessel


Variable conductance LM heat pipe


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