Artificial intelligence has reached the nuclear fuel market. After copper and lithium, Big Tech is turning its attention to electricity, and uranium is emerging as one of the beneficiaries of this new demand. Spot prices are approaching $90 per pound, while long-term contract prices have reached their highest level in 18 years.
The reason is straightforward: hyperscalers need massive amounts of reliable power, while securing additional capacity from conventional grids is becoming increasingly difficult. Solar and wind are weather-dependent, making them less suitable as a sole source of round-the-clock power. Stable nuclear generation is therefore gaining renewed attention.
Google offers a telling example. The company has reached an agreement with Finnish utility Fortum to purchase enough electricity for its data centers to support the continued operation of the Loviisa nuclear power plant. In effect, the technology giant is becoming an anchor customer for the nuclear facility.
Against this backdrop, uranium prices are rising steadily. The current price is roughly five times higher than the post-Fukushima low. Investment bank Jefferies has raised its long-term forecast to $95 per pound, while Citi analysts see prices potentially reaching $140 per pound by the end of next year.
Uranium production is failing to keep pace with the industry’s appetite. UBS expects a structural supply deficit to persist into the 2030s. The world’s largest uranium producer, Kazatomprom, has issued a similar warning, saying the era of cheap uranium mining is over as development costs have increased and the market can no longer rely on the prices of the past.
AI-powered data centers have become a modern-day King Midas: everything they touch becomes more expensive and harder to secure. After copper, uranium is now in the spotlight, and based on current forecasts, the trend is only gaining momentum.
Source: Wall Street Journal
