Furthermore, during the past 10 years, only about two-thirds of worldwide demand for nuclear fuel – about 68,000 tons of natural uranium equivalent are needed for 2010 – was met from resources obtained from mining. The remaining 20,000 tons came from so-called secondary uranium sources – mainly inventories held by utilities and governments, re-processed nuclear fuel, and stockpiles of depleted uranium.
更重要的是在过去10年间，铀矿的开采只能满足全世界核能发电燃料总需求量的2/3——2010年度需求量约为6.8万当量吨天然铀。而剩下的2万当量吨缺口就由所谓的“二次铀资源”来满足——主要是一些公营机构和政府的库存，再加工的核燃料以及贫化铀储藏。但上述这类物资的储备量将在2013年末下降到约1万吨，因为那时美俄两国之间的“兆吨到兆瓦”项目（回收俄罗斯核弹头的高浓缩铀并将其转化为民用发电的低浓缩铀）就走到尽头了。