Forty Years of Uranium Resources, Production and Demand in Perspective
The Red Book Retrospective
Also available in: French
- Click to access:
-
Click to download PDF - 37.70MBPDF
-
Click to Read online and shareREAD
Uranium production
Nuclear Energy Agency
Though the element uranium was discovered in 1789 its uses were mainly limited to ceramic glazes and pigmentation of glass until the discovery of radioactivity by Ernst Rutherford at the end of the19th century. When radium was detected by Marie Curie at the beginning of the 20th century uranium was then mined to extract radium, thus initiating the first uranium mining “boom”. The modern era of uranium production began after fission of uranium was detected in 1938, followed shortly by a period of military application. In less than 25 years, from the first research for military purposes uranium production underwent a dramatic series of transformations, changing it from a commodity with minor commercial interest to major one of strategic significance before evolving to its current role as a fuel for generating electricity.
Also available in: French
- Click to access:
-
Click to download PDF - 3.07MBPDF
-
Click to Read online and shareREAD