# How long will the Uranium supply last?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-the-uranium-supply-last/302188>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 3, 2005, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-the-uranium-supply-last/302188 "2005-05-03T05:27:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-the-uranium-supply-last/302188/1 "2005-05-03T05:27:48Z")

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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.

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**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-the-uranium-supply-last/302188/2 "2005-05-03T12:14:52Z")

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> [@Ranchoth](#):
>
> 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](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.