The U.S.' production of uranium concentrate decreased by 13 percent to 2.9 million pounds in 2016, compared to the uranium produced in 2015, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced Thursday.
The EIA said this was the lowest annual U.S. uranium production since 2005.
"U.S. uranium concentrate production in 2016 was less than 7 percent of the historical peak production level of 43.7 million pounds in 1980," the administration explained.
Additionally, the EIA stated that most of the uranium loaded onto U.S. nuclear power reactors is imported.
"Owners and operators of U.S. nuclear power reactors purchased 57 million pounds of uranium in 2015," according to the EIA's latest annual data.
Nearly half of the purchases originated from Canada and Kazakhstan, which provided 17 million pounds and 11 million pounds of uranium, respectively, it noted.
Uranium dioxide is used in most nuclear reactors as a fuel to create electricity.
By Dilara Zengin
Anadolu Agency
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