Nuclear fuel is used in a nuclear reactor to sustain a nuclear chain reaction. Materials used in producing heat to power turbines in the nuclear power station are known as nuclear fuel. Nuclear fuel is available in various forms, including metal, an alloy, or some sort of oxide. Nuclear fuels contain heavy fissile actinide elements, which are capable to sustain nuclear fission chemical process. Nuclear fuels are used in various industries and applications such as nuclear power plant and nuclear research labs. The nuclear fuel cycle begins with the mining of uranium and ends with the discarding of nuclear waste. Nuclear fuels are used for production of carbon-free electricity, which aids in maintaining the air quality. Nuclear power plants are designed to operate for longer period and refuel every 1.5–2 years.

Market scope and structure analysis

COVID-19 scenario analysis

• The energy consumption market witnessed a fall of around 10–25%, which negatively impacted the market growth.
• Lower electricity demand due to restrictions on economic activities leads to limited energy production in some of the plants.
• Due to reduced number of staff on site to prevent further spread of the virus leads to reduced production in uranium and other nuclear fuel mining. For instance, Kazatomprom, a state-owned uranium production company in Kazakhstan, is expecting a reduced production volume of 19,250 tons of elemental uranium (tU) with a previous expectation of 22,800 tons of elemental uranium (tU).

Top impacting factors: market scenario analysis, trends, drivers, and impact analysis

The nuclear fuel market includes companies, industries, and governmental bodies, which are involved in mining, refining, and storage of nuclear fuels and construction of nuclear reactors. The major application of nuclear fuels is in the nuclear reactor for supporting a nuclear chain reaction that is required for generating electric energy. The nuclear fuels such as uranium-235 and thorium-232 are radioactive metals, which are fissile in nature.

Rise in living standards of people will led to rise in electricity consumption and increase in fresh water requirement. Nuclear energy meets the increasing need for electricity industrial scale clean water. Furthermore, nuclear energy can be used for various industrial applications, such as seawater desalination, hydrogen production, district heating, or cooling. Thus, all these factors collectively boost the growth of the global market. 

New product launches to boost the market growth

The energy demand in world is gradually growing as the result of increase in world population and improvement of the global economy. The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) is anticipated to install total nuclear power capacity of 15,700 MW  by 2031. Between 2020 and 2026, 48 power reactors will be set up, globally. Between 2020 and 2022, around 32 reactors are due to begin operations. 

The outbreak of coronavirus has adversely impacted many industries Post lockdown, the automotive industry will require huge amount of nuclear fuel to launch their electric vehicles. India's largest passenger vehicle manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki plans to launch the electric car hatchback Wagon R in 2020, which will be cost-effective, environment friendly, and cheaper to maintain. 

Surge in usage of nuclear fuel 

Increase in demand for massive energy in industrial boiler systems and commercial sectors coupled with rise in cost of conventional fossil fuel is expected to drive the market growth during the forecast period. In addition, nuclear power is more efficient than conventional fossil fuel in terms of energy generation for various industrial applications.. For instance, uranium per gram is 8,000 times more efficient than that of fossil fuel, thus reducing the amount of waste.

Key segments covered

Key benefits of the report

• This study presents the analytical depiction of the global nuclear fuel market along with the current trends and future estimations to determine the imminent investment pockets.
• The report presents information related to key drivers, restraints, and opportunities along with detailed analysis of the global nuclear fuel market.
• The current market is quantitatively analyzed from 2020 to 2027 to highlight the growth scenario.
• Porter’s five forces analysis illustrates the potency of buyers & suppliers in the market. 
• The report provides a detailed analysis depending on competitive intensity and how the competition will take shape in coming years.