Editing Uranium (section)

===Resources and reserves===
[[File:Uranium prices.webp|thumb|upright=2|Uranium price 1990–2022.]]
It is estimated that 6.1&nbsp;million tonnes of uranium exists in ores that are economically viable at US$130 per kg of uranium,<ref name=res/> while 35&nbsp;million tonnes are classed as mineral resources (reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction).<ref name="IAEAResourcesDemand" />

Australia has 28% of the world's known uranium ore reserves<ref name=res>{{cite web |url=https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/uranium-resources/supply-of-uranium.aspx |title=Uranium Supplies: Supply of Uranium – World Nuclear Association |website=www.world-nuclear.org}}</ref> and the world's largest single uranium deposit is located at the [[Olympic Dam, South Australia|Olympic Dam]] Mine in [[South Australia]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Uranium Mining and Processing in South Australia |publisher=South Australian Chamber of Mines and Energy |date=2002 |url=http://www.uraniumsa.org/processing/processing.htm |access-date=14 January 2007 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106005859/http://www.uraniumsa.org/processing/processing.htm |archive-date=6 January 2012 }}</ref> There is a significant reserve of uranium in [[Bakouma]], a [[sub-prefecture]] in the [[prefecture]] of [[Mbomou]] in the [[Central African Republic]].<ref>{{cite news |date=2011 |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idAFL5E7M34T920111103 |title=Areva suspends CAR uranium mine project |last1=Ngoupana |first1=P.-M. |last2=Felix |first2=B. |editor-last=Barker |editor-first=A. |work=Central African Republic News |access-date=7 March 2020}}</ref>

Some uranium also originates from dismantled nuclear weapons.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/uranium-resources/military-warheads-as-a-source-of-nuclear-fuel.aspx |title=Military Warheads as a Source of Nuclear Fuel |work=World-nuclear.org |access-date=24 May 2010}}</ref> For example, in 1993–2013 Russia supplied the United States with 15,000 tonnes of low-enriched uranium within the [[Megatons to Megawatts Program]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usec.com/megatonstomegawatts.htm |title=Megatons to Megawatts|publisher=U.S. Enrichment Corp.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080716044207/http://www.usec.com/megatonstomegawatts.htm|archive-date=July 16, 2008}}</ref>

An additional 4.6&nbsp;billion tonnes of uranium are estimated to be dissolved in [[sea water]] ([[Japan]]ese scientists in the 1980s showed that extraction of uranium from sea water using [[ion exchange]]rs was technically feasible).<ref name="UseaWater">{{cite web |title=Uranium recovery from Seawater |url=http://www.jaea.go.jp/jaeri/english/ff/ff43/topics.html |access-date=3 September 2008 |publisher=Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute |date=23 August 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091017081215/http://www.jaea.go.jp/jaeri/english/ff/ff43/topics.html |archive-date=17 October 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="stanfordCohen">{{cite web |title=How long will nuclear energy last? |url=http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/progress/cohen.html |access-date=29 March 2007 |date=12 February 1996 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070410165316/http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/progress/cohen.html |archive-date=10 April 2007 }}</ref> There have been experiments to extract uranium from sea water,<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1002/cjce.5450620416 |title=Extraction of uranium from sea water using biological origin adsorbents |year=1984 |last1=Tsezos |first1=M. |last2=Noh |first2=S. H. |journal=The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering |volume=62 |issue=4| pages=559–561}}</ref> but the yield has been low due to the carbonate present in the water. In 2012, [[ORNL]] researchers announced the successful development of a new absorbent material dubbed HiCap which performs surface retention of solid or gas molecules, atoms or ions and also effectively removes toxic metals from water, according to results verified by researchers at [[Pacific Northwest National Laboratory]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ornl.gov/info/press_releases/get_press_release.cfm?ReleaseNumber=mr20120821-00 |title=ORNL technology moves scientists closer to extracting uranium from seawater |publisher=Oak Ridge National Laboratory, United States |date=21 August 2012 |access-date=22 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825192521/http://www.ornl.gov/info/press_releases/get_press_release.cfm?ReleaseNumber=mr20120821-00 |archive-date=25 August 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Fueling nuclear power with seawater |publisher=Pnnl.gov |date=21 August 2012 |url=http://www.pnnl.gov/news/release.aspx?id=938 |access-date=22 February 2013 |archive-date=25 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825155837/http://www.pnnl.gov/news/release.aspx?id=938 |url-status=dead }}</ref>