Trump administration seeks to boost US uranium production

As part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed federal budget for fiscal 2021, his administration is requesting US$150 million annually over the next decade to stockpile U.S.-mined uranium in a new national uranium reserve. The move is designed to prop up domestic production as a matter of national energy security and re-establish the country’s nuclear fuel supply chain. Trump’s “Budget for America’s Future”, unveiled on Feb. 10, requests that the U.S. Congress approve a total of US$1.5 billion between 2021 and 2030 to set up the strategic reserve. “This is the very beginning of a long process to revitalize in many respects the entirety of the nuclear fuel cycle,” U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette told reporters on a teleconference. “What you’ve seen in the president’s budget is a request for $150 million to begin the process of purchasing uranium.” Continue reading at The Northern Miner.