Section 232: The Most Important Uranium Catalyst Nobody Is Talking About
The Hoot this Week: 5th - 11th December 2025 Ocean Wall
UEC Firing on all Cylinders
UEC’s Q1 FY2026 call carried a confident and expansionary tone, reflecting a company moving through a major operational inflection point. Management emphasised strong growth across its U.S. ISR platform, with Christensen Ranch delivering sustained low-cost production, Burke Hollow nearing first production, and Ludeman entering development. UEC are bringing multiple U.S. mines online in parallel.
The quarter also marked a strategic milestone with the launch of United States Uranium Refining & Conversion Corp (UR&C), positioning UEC as the only American company aiming to offer an end-to-end domestic fuel cycle from mine to UF6.
Management highlighted a strong balance sheet, rising inventories, 24/7 processing capability at Irigaray, and an exceptionally supportive policy backdrop ahead of the pending Section 232 decision.
Overall sentiment was one of momentum, confidence in execution, and anticipation of catalytic U.S. policy developments that could underscore UEC’s role as the leading U.S.-origin uranium supplier.
For context:
UEC’s U.S. ISR platform is built around a hub-and-spoke model in Wyoming and South Texas, with Irigaray and Hobson as the central processing hubs. In Wyoming, Christensen Ranch is the currently producing ISR wellfield, sending uranium-bearing solution to the Irigaray Central Processing Plant (CPP), a processing facility licensed for 4.0 million lbs per year. The Irigaray CPP is surrounded by 17 satellite projects, four of which are fully permitted, including Christensen Ranch and Ludeman.
In South Texas, Burke Hollow is the next major ISR project advancing toward production and will ultimately send recovered uranium to the Hobson plant, the hub for UEC’s Texas platform, which is licensed for 4m lbs U3O8 per year. Across these hubs and their satellite fields, UEC controls the largest resource base of fully permitted ISR projects in the U.S., plus a pipeline of additional ISR projects, positioning the company for scalable growth as policy and market support for domestic uranium supply increases.
The company is now looking to expand downstream towards conversion via UR&C. With UR&C, UEC will provide end-to-end capabilities and providing secure geopolitically reliable source of uranium hexafluoride, supporting U.S. enrichment.
Notes from Fiscal Q1 2026 results
· For the quarter UEC produced 68,612 lbs of U3O8 at total Cost per Pound of $34.35, maintaining its low-cost production profile
· Drying and drumming operations have resumed, and approximately 49,000 lbs U3O8 were packaged between November 13-30, 2025
· Development decision made to advance the fully permitted Ludeman ISR Project’s first planned wellfield. Fully licensed and permitted and will be constructed as a satellite project with wellfields and an IX plant, similar to Christensen Ranch.
· At Christensen Ranch, the focus has been on expanding ISR production capacity through the construction of 6 additional header houses in new wellfields
· Advancing Development Plans for Sweetwater under the FAST-41 permitting. Drilling and engineering plans for mill refurbishment have been initiated.
· In the Powder River Basin, the Irigaray CPP has a licensed capacity of 4.0m lbs per year, surrounded by 17 satellite projects, four of which are fully permitted including Christensen Ranch and Ludeman.
· Roughrider Pre-Feasibility Progressing with A 34,000 metre core drilling program commenced in October 2025
· Launched UR&C positioning UEC as America’s only vertically integrated uranium company with mining and processing together with planned refining, and conversion under one platform.
· Initiated a feasibility study with Fluor, expanded the size of the project technical team, and progressed federal engagement and multi-state siting activities.
· $698m of cash, uranium inventory and equities at market prices, with no debt.
· Company completed $234m public offering to support acceleration of UR&C’s planned development and liquidity.
· 1,356,000 lbs of U3O8 held in inventory on October 31, 2025, valued at $111.9m at market prices. In addition to uranium from operations, a further 300,000 lbs of U3O8 are to be added by the end of December 2025 through purchase contracts at an attractive $37.05 per pound.
In the Q&A session attention was focused on UEC’s inventory and Section 232. Section 232 is a U.S. trade law that allows the government to restrict imports if they are found to threaten national security. The law is to ensure “ready access to an affordable, resilient, and sustainable supply of processed critical minerals” and create a “resilient and sustainable manufacturing base for mineral derivative products” that would provide “a stable demand base for processed critical minerals.”
This triggered a national security review of America’s uranium supply. This Section 232 review is still ongoing, with no conclusions or remedies yet issued. While the first Section 232 investigation during Trump’s initial term identified foreign uranium dependence as a national-security concern and eventually informed the creation of the U.S. Uranium Reserve program, the current process has not delivered any findings or policy actions yet. Market expectations for a potential expansion of the Uranium Reserve stem from past precedent and recent supportive comments from Secretary Wright.
Scott Melby, Executive VP at UEC, CEO of URC, and President of the uranium producers of America, provided commentary on the call:
“We are optimistic about the potential for the strategic uranium reserve being really expanded over what was done in the first term. The report 232 report has been submitted to the President. He has a statutory timeline to reply to that. Why are we so optimistic? Because none of those details have been released publicly, but we know we have a precedent from the previous 232 investigation. It was a remedy that President Trump chose to institute the first time around. I think the findings of import penetration hasn’t changed over what were the conditions back then. In fact, the world has gotten more complicated with geopolitics. So, we think the conclusion is the same, and we feel that, that’s a remedy the President may go to.
Secondly, we’ve also heard very supportive comments from Secretary Wright and Secretary Bergum, on the need for an expanded uranium reserve, public remarks that they’ve made in the last weeks and months.
Three, I think it’s safe to say this was in a very small way in the first term, a successful policy initiative. And speaking on behalf of UEC and I think the broader U.S. domestic industry, reinstituting the strategic reserve would result in advanced development activities at U.S. uranium operations.
And then four, don’t underestimate the defense needs for U.S. origin, un-obligated uranium for things like the naval propulsion program, if we’re building more aircraft carriers and submarines as is President Trump’s desire, we need more U.S-origin uranium. And I just direct people’s attention to language in current National Defense Appropriations Act Legislation that’s before Congress right now does direct Department of War and NSA to report on the status of our stockpiles of U.S-origin uranium and really the adequacy of those stockpiles to move forward with further growth in our Naval Propulsion Programs.
So, we’re optimistic we’ll see like everyone else, what comes from that. But I think the legislative mandated timelines really kind of come around the end of the year. So, we’re hopeful we’ll hear something in December. But if not, early January, we should hear the President’s recommendations.”
UEC remains 100% unhedged, largely because the company sees a fundamental supply deficit, which is expected to exceed 1.7b lbs by 2045 on a cumulative basis. The market is in such a structural deficit today, and the gap isn’t closing:
“if anything, with a doubling of nuclear generation now and production lagging. We’re quite content to have these new pounds produced and our inventory to sell into stronger markets in the coming year.”
What else happened this week?
Spot Shows Signs Of Life
After the U.S. Thanksgiving short week, uranium trading activity slowed noticeably, with many participants suggesting the usual year-end seasonal lull arrived early. Spot volumes were thin, with only a handful of confirmed deals, though off-market activity persisted as traders executed reverse carries, inventory financing, and swaps to tidy books before year-end. Despite this, the spot price held flat at $75.85 /lb for 12 days. Wednesday saw the end of this quiet period. Spot uranium increased $1.15 to $77 /lb. This activity coincides with SPUT buying 100k lbs of uranium on the 9th and 10th. The sequester is currently trading at -1.84% discount to NAV and has $63,089,208 of cash at hand. The increase in the spot price may also be a reaction to the section 232 commentary during UECs Q1 2026 earnings call.
India and Russia discuss new nuclear power plant options
In a joint statement issued by the Indian Prime Minister’s Office , India and Russia have agreed to “broaden cooperation across the civil nuclear sector” following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin, reaffirming plans to expand collaboration across the fuel cycle, life-cycle support for the operating Kudankulam VVER-1000 units, non-power application and a new agenda for civil nuclear technology collaboration.
India will move to finalise a second site for a Russian-designed plant, while accelerating technical and commercial discussions on VVER reactors, joint R&D and the localisation and manufacturing of nuclear equipment and fuel assemblies.
Putin highlighted further opportunities in SMRs and floating nuclear power plants, referencing Russia’s Akademik Lomonosov, and Rosatom has established a working group with India’s Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways to assess floating NPP deployment.
Non-proliferation Treaty pops Kazakhstan’s Nuclear bubble
Kazakhstan is seeking full sovereignty over its nuclear fuel cycle, however, the endeavour downstream into conversion and enrichment presents new challenges, constrained not by funding but by geopolitical approval and technology-transfer limits.
Kazatomprom Chairman Meirzhan Yusupov said conversion capacity would cost $800 million– 1 billion, while enrichment would require a further $2–4 billion, with French partners indicating that even a 25% stake in a prospective US plant would cost $2–3 billion. He stressed that enrichment permissions are “a highly political issue,” citing Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty related restrictions raised by US, French and Chinese counterparts. While Kazakhstan already mines uranium and manufactures fuel pellets and assemblies via its Ulba-TVS plant, the absence of domestic conversion and enrichment leaves the country dependent on external partners, principally Russia.
Negotiations were conducted with French, American, and Chinese partners, who linked the difficulties of organizing enrichment with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Russia’s Rosatom and China’s CNNC are exploring the development of new nuclear fuel-cycle infrastructure in Kazakhstan, with Rosatom leading the consortium for a 2.4 GW plant at Ulken and CNNC heading consortia for two additional large nuclear projects whose sites are still to be determined. |
