The resurgence of nuclear energy is creating renewed urgency around the domestic uranium supply chain, and two recent production milestones point to growing momentum in U.S. uranium mining.
Uranium Energy Corp. (“UEC”) announced the start of production at its Burke Hollow project in South Texas, the World’s newest in-situ recovery (“ISR”) uranium mine and the first new U.S. ISR operation in more than a decade. The project strengthens UEC’s U.S. production platform, with output from Burke Hollow set to be processed at the company’s Hobson Central Processing plant, which is licensed for up to 4 million pounds of uranium annually. The company also emphasized that Burke Hollow remains only partially explored, giving the project significant long-term expansion potential.
Meanwhile, in Wyoming, Ur-Energy also commenced operations at its Shirley Basin ISR project, bringing a historically important uranium district back into production. Shirley Basin is licensed for annual wellfield and toll processing capacity of up to 2 million pounds of U3O8 and will use Ur-Energy’s existing Lost Creek facility for final processing, drying and packaging. The project is expected to add meaningful production capacity as the company scales its second ISR operation.
Together, these developments underscore uranium’s central role in the nuclear energy buildout. As policymakers and utilities look to nuclear power as a reliable and sustainable source of baseload electricity, secure access to uranium is becoming a strategic priority. New U.S. production from Texas and Wyoming helps reinforce the domestic nuclear fuel cycle at a time when energy security, grid reliability, and rising power demand are converging all at once.
Expanding nuclear energy requires a dependable uranium supply. With Burke Hollow and Shirley Basin entering production, U.S. uranium producers are beginning to rebuild the upstream foundation needed to support the next phase of nuclear power growth.