The nuclear fuel chain
Getting uranium from the ground into a reactor takes four industrial steps, and each one narrows. Roughly twenty countries mine uranium. Five plants on earth convert it to the gas that enrichment requires. Four organisations do essentially all of the enrichment. That funnel, not the reactors, is where the nuclear industry's real concentration lies.
Concentration at each stage
| Stage | World capacity | Top 3 share | Who | Facilities here |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mining and milling | 60,213tU/yr (2024) | 75% | Kazakhstan (all operators), Canada (all operators), Namibia (all operators) | 25 |
| Conversion | 62,000tU/yr as UF6 (2022) | 69% | CNNC, Orano, Cameco | 5 |
| Enrichment | 68,076tSWU/yr (2025) | 88% | Rosatom, Urenco, CNNC | 9 |
| Fabrication | 14,912tHM/yr (2022) | 60% | Framatome, Westinghouse, TVEL | 25 |
| HALEU | n/a | — | — | 4 |
| Back end | 3,860tHM/yr (2022) | 75% | Orano, JNFL, Rosatom | 4 |
The stages
Mining and milling
Where is uranium mined?
25 facilities listed · top three hold 75%
Conversion
What is uranium conversion and who does it?
5 facilities listed · top three hold 69%
Enrichment
Who enriches uranium and how concentrated is the market?
9 facilities listed · top three hold 88%
Fabrication
Which companies fabricate nuclear fuel, and for which reactors?
25 facilities listed · top three hold 60%
HALEU
What is HALEU and who can actually produce it?
4 facilities listed
Back end
What happens to spent nuclear fuel?
4 facilities listed · top three hold 75%
Sources
- World Nuclear Association information library — conversion, enrichment, fabrication, mining and reprocessing capacity tables · retrieved 2026-09-06 · each facility page cites the specific table its capacity figure comes from
- US Department of Energy and company announcements for HALEU capacity