The Race for Uranium Has Gone Global
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- USANewsgroup.com News Commentary — The United States currently imports roughly 95% of the uranium it consumes, leaving the world's largest nuclear fleet almost entirely dependent on foreign fuel[1]. In January 2026, the White House issued a Section 232 proclamation formally designating uranium a national security risk, opening the door to import restrictions, price floors, and direct federal support for domestic miners[2]. Eagle Nuclear Energy Corp. (NASDAQ:NUCL), Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSX:CCO), Denison Mines (NYSE-A: DNN) (TSX:DML), Centrus Energy (NYSE:LEU), and NuScale Power (NYSE:SMR) are each advancing projects that strengthen the domestic nuclear fuel cycle.
The International Energy Agency projects that global nuclear capacity could reach 950 GWe by 2050 under its Announced Pledges Scenario, nearly tripling from current levels[3]. Alongside an $80 billion federal pledge for AP1000 reactor construction and $2.7 billion in DOE enrichment funding, the policy environment has shifted decisively in favour of companies building domestic uranium supply chains[4].
Eagle Nuclear Energy Corp. (NASDAQ:NUCL), a next-generation nuclear energy company focused on domestic uranium development and advanced reactor technology, recently announced its membership into the Uranium Producers of America (UPA).
The trade association represents companies engaged in uranium exploration, mining, and milling across the United States. The move highlights the company's commitment to strengthening America's domestic uranium supply at a time when policymakers and industry leaders are increasingly focused on reducing the nation's reliance on imported fuel.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, domestic production currently accounts for less than 5% of the uranium consumed by American reactors.
The company began trading on the NASDAQ in February 2026 under the ticker "NUCL," marking its entry into the public markets as a U.S.-focused uranium development company.
The listing followed the closing of its business combination with Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. II, led by the same SPAC team that brought NuScale Power (NYSE:SMR) public in 2022, which was backed by Pearl Energy, a $3.0 billion Texas-based firm focused on the North American energy sector.
Anchored by its flagship Aurora Uranium Project, Eagle owns what it describes as the largest conventional, measured and indicated uranium deposit in the United States. The Aurora deposit sits on the Oregon-Nevada border with 32.75 million pounds of indicated uranium and 4.98 million pounds of inferred uranium. In January, the company engaged BBA USA, a consulting firm with over 45 years of energy sector experience, to design a targeted drilling campaign at Aurora in support of a Pre-Feasibility Study.
Adjacent to Aurora is the Cordex deposit, which Eagle believes offers significant potential to expand the project's overall resource inventory as the company digitizes and reinterprets existing drill data. Recent metallurgical optimization results for Aurora demonstrated uranium recoveries in the high 80% range and significantly reduced acid consumption to approximately 70 to 90 kg/t, enhancing project economics.
Beyond uranium, Eagle also owns proprietary Small Modular Reactor technology. By integrating advanced SMR technology with a sizeable uranium asset, the company is building an integrated nuclear platform positioned to help restore American leadership in the global nuclear fuel cycle.
In other industry developments and happenings in the market include:
Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSX:CCO) entered a long-term agreement to supply nearly 22 million pounds of uranium ore concentrate to the Government of India's Department of Atomic Energy. The nine-year contract carries a total estimated value of approximately $2.6 billion, with deliveries expected to begin in 2027. Cameco's CEO Tim Gitzel attended an event in Delhi alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to celebrate the agreement.
"Cameco is proud to be a strategic partner with India to help meet its civil nuclear fuel needs and support its trade relationship with Canada," said Tim Gitzel, CEO of Cameco. "This demand underscores an emerging trend of sovereign buyers locking up large volumes from multiple suppliers, and in a window where demand continues to grow and available supplies continue to become more uncertain and constrained."
India currently operates 24 nuclear reactors with ambitious plans to deploy dozens more to reach 100 GW by 2047. The company previously supplied uranium to India under a five-year contract that began in 2015, making this agreement a renewal and significant expansion of an established commercial relationship.
Denison Mines (NYSE-A: DNN) (TSX:DML) announced a Final Investment Decision to proceed with construction of the Phoenix In-Situ Recovery uranium mine in the Athabasca Basin region of northern Saskatchewan. Site preparation and construction activities are planned to commence in March 2026, with the company targeting first production by mid-2028.
"Making a Final Investment Decision and the upcoming initiation of construction activities at Phoenix mark the beginning of a new era in Denison's history and the Canadian uranium mining sector," said David Cates, President and CEO of Denison Mines. "With construction anticipated to take approximately two years, commencing construction in March is expected to allow us to maintain our objective to achieve first production from Phoenix by mid-2028."
Wheeler River is the largest undeveloped uranium project in the infrastructure-rich eastern portion of the Athabasca Basin. The company maintains a 90% operating interest in the project, which has the potential to be competitive with the lowest-cost uranium mining operations in the world. Teams have worked for several years to bring Phoenix to a construction-ready state, obtaining both provincial and federal approvals.
Centrus Energy (NYSE:LEU) was awarded $900 million by the U.S. Department of Energy to expand its uranium enrichment facility in Piketon, Ohio. The project includes commercial-scale production of High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) alongside additional Low-Enriched Uranium production for commercial utilities and the existing reactor fleet.
"This award represents a historic commitment to revitalizing America's nuclear fuel supply chain and reclaiming American nuclear leadership on the global stage," said Amir Vexler, President and CEO of Centrus Energy. "This award will catalyze additional private investment and supports the prospect of further expansion as the market continues to grow. Uranium enrichment in Ohio has a big future, and this is just the beginning."
The expansion is expected to support thousands of American jobs, including 1,000 construction positions and 300 new operating roles in Ohio, along with hundreds of new direct jobs at the company's centrifuge manufacturing plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Centrus has already secured $2.3 billion in LEU purchase commitments from utilities, underscoring commercial demand for domestically enriched uranium fuel.
NuScale Power (NYSE:SMR) reported fourth quarter and full-year 2025 results, highlighting a nonbinding collaborative agreement between its exclusive global partner ENTRA1 Energy and the Tennessee Valley Authority to deploy up to 6 gigawatts of small modular reactor capacity across TVA's seven-state service region.
"For NuScale, 2025 was a breakthrough year, in which we further solidified our position as the SMR industry's first mover," said John Hopkins, President and CEO of NuScale Power. "As we move into 2026, our primary focus will be on the commercialization of our SMR technology, including ensuring full readiness for the manufacturing of our first NPM."
Now the first and only SMR technology to have received design approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, including its uprated 77 MWe Power Module, the company ended the year with $1.3 billion in cash and investments. A study also validated that NuScale's technology can support profitable, reliable power for commercial chemical plants, opening a new use case beyond traditional electricity generation.
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Certain statements included in this document are not historical facts but are forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this document are forward-looking statements. Any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are also forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, expected benefits from Eagle's business combination with SVII; the outlook for Eagle's business; the viability of Eagle's mining claims and technologies; as well as any information concerning possible or assumed future results of operations of Eagle. The forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations of the management team of Eagle and are inherently subject to uncertainties and changes in circumstance and their potential effects. There can be no assurance that future developments will be those that have been anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, (i) market risks; (ii) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against Eagle related to its business combination; (iii) failure to realize the anticipated benefits of the business combination; (iv) the inability to maintain the listing of the Company's securities on Nasdaq Capital Market or a comparable exchange; (v) the risk that the price of the Eagle's securities may be volatile due to a variety of factors, including changes in laws, regulations, technologies, natural disasters or health epidemics/pandemics, national security tensions, and macro- economic and social environments affecting its business; and (vi) fluctuations in spot and forward markets for lithium and uranium and certain other commodities (such as natural gas, fuel oil and electricity). The foregoing list is not exhaustive, and there may be additional risks that Eagle does not presently know or that Eagle currently believes are immaterial. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors, any other factors discussed in this document and the other risks and uncertainties described in filings made with the SEC by Eagle from time to time, which are or will be accessible at www.sec.gov. Eagle cautions you against placing undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect current beliefs and are based on information currently available as of the date a forward-looking statement is made. Forward-looking statements set forth in this document speak only as of the date of this document.
SOURCES:
1. https://www.eia.gov/uranium/marketing/
3. https://www.iea.org/reports/the-path-to-a-new-era-for-nuclear-energy/executive-summary
4. https://www.powermag.com/beyond-reactors-the-full-fuel-cycle-investment-needed-for-a-nuclear-future/
