Did you know the key ingredient that will power Canada’s clean energy goals comes from deep within the Earth?

It is uranium — a naturally occurring heavy metal that’s actually much more common than gold or silver. In fact, it is found in soil, rocks, rivers and even the ocean.

Uranium plays a big role in nuclear energy, one of the cleanest and safest energy sources we have. Canada has been a global leader in nuclear energy for more than 65 years, thanks in large part to our home grown technology: the CANDU® reactor. This unique Canadian design uses natural uranium (no need to enrich it) to produce electricity — and it does so efficiently and with zero emissions.

How Uranium Becomes Nuclear Fuel

Turning uranium into reactor-ready fuel is a step-by-step process:

1. Mining: Uranium ore is extracted from the earth using open-pit, underground or in-situ recovery methods.

2. Milling: The ore is then crushed, ground up and treated to pull out uranium, creating a powder called uranium oxide.

3. Refining: Next, the powder is purified into a high-grade form called uranium trioxide.

4. Conversion: The powder is then converted into uranium dioxide, the final form used in fuel.

5. Fuel Manufacturing: The uranium dioxide is pressed into tiny pellets, baked until they’re rock-solid, then stacked into metal tubes. These are bundled together to create fuel assemblies used in reactors.

Each fuel bundle is about the size of a fireplace log — butdon’t let the size fool you. Just one of these bundles can power 100 homes fora year and a half!

A Clean, Powerful Energy Source

CANDU® reactors are known for making the most out of natural uranium. In fact, they use about 25–30% less uranium than many other types of reactors. And the energy density is incredible — just one uranium pellet(smaller than a AA battery!) can provide as much energy as 400 kilograms of coal or 410 litres of oil.

Canada’s uranium industry is also a big part of our economy.We’re the second largest uranium producer in the world, with most of the mining happening in northern Saskatchewan. The industry generates around $800 million annually and supports more than 2,000 jobs.

A large portion of this uranium is exported to power homes around the world, but some of it stays right here in Canada — about 15% of our electricity comes from nuclear energy.

Learn more about how uranium gets from the ground to the grid in our lifecycle of uranium fact sheet.