4 Glow-In-The-Dark Factoids

1. Today there are 441 operational nuclear power reactors around the world. According to a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, 130 new nuclear power plants are either being built or are in the planning stages. Some put the number of planned reactors as high as 160!
2. India and China have highly escalated their nuclear programs and will build between 43 and 60 reactors (between the two of them) over the next 15 years. 43 new reactors would add about 292 million pounds per year to existing global uranium demand.
3. Total global uranium consumption is estimated at 176.3 million pounds. Of that 176.3 million pounds, only 92.6 million pounds, or 47%, was supplied directly from mining (there are stockpiles, but they are dwindling). By 2015, it will likely hit a whopping 212 million pounds per year.
4. Each new nuclear reactor requires about 1.6 million pounds of uranium to start production. Each subsequent year of production requires about 500,000 pounds of uranium.
   
   -- Collected from Bloomberg, DOE and various other sources.

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