I was just wondering…one hears all the time about the world’s dwindling fossil fuel supplies,* but I can’t remember hearing how long the world’s Uranium supply will last, at the current rate we’re consuming it.
So, as of now, how long will the Uranium last? Decades? Centuries? Millennia?
*And I know that’s probably an oversimplification.
There are too many variables to give a good answer. For example:
the current rate of consumption is pretty low for energy production purposes, but that would be expected to change if oil and coal got significantly more expensive.
most reserves are uneconomic to extract at current energy prices, but that would also be expected to change.
the breeder cycle isn’t currently in widespread use, so the U238 is currently “wasted”.
the enormous thorium reserves need to be counted, too.
Having said that, though, this site:
http://www.nuclearfaq.ca/cnf_sectionG.htm
implies that at current usage rates, but a price ten times higher, and using breeder technology, the answer’s something like 100,000 years.