Uzbekistan intends to double its uranium production by the end of the decade. Plans presented to President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on November 5 by state producer Navoiyuran and the Uzbek Technological Metals Plant target output of 15,000 tonnes in 2030, up from 7,500 tonnes planned for this year, with explored reserves rising to 200,000 tonnes over the same period.
The scale would reorder the uranium market. According to World Nuclear Association figures cited by World Nuclear News, Uzbekistan is already the world’s fifth largest uranium producer, with 4,000 tonnes in 2024, behind Australia at 4,598 tonnes and ahead of Russia at 2,738 tonnes. Output of 15,000 tonnes would exceed Canada’s entire 2024 production. The government case rests on demand: officials told the president that world uranium demand has risen 15 to 20 percent in recent years and is expected to grow a further 28 percent by 2030.
Delivery runs through in-situ recovery, the wellfield leaching method used for all Uzbek uranium production since the mid-1990s. This year’s program includes expanded geological exploration and technological drilling, new production infrastructure, additional sorption units and 250 new jobs. Commercial production began in April at the Qizilkok deposit, Navoiyuran’s third largest, with planned capacity of 1,200 tonnes a year over a 15-year life using oxygen-based leaching.
The binding constraint is chemistry. In-situ recovery consumes large volumes of sulphuric acid, and the plan leans on two offsets: stronger cooperation with domestic producers of sulphur, sulphuric and nitric acids, and a shift toward alternative reagents, whose share is targeted to reach 40 percent by 2030. The president directed officials to ensure investment projects are implemented on time, the mineral resource base is strengthened and exports of higher value-added products increased.
Navoiyuran recently reported strong first-half 2026 financial results on higher uranium sales volumes and a higher average realised price. Uzbekistan has no operating nuclear power reactors of its own, so the additional output is export supply, aimed at utilities rebuilding fuel inventories as reactor programs expand.