Nuclear energy supplies nearly 24% of EU electricity, yet uranium — a fuel whose supply is 95% import-dependent and concentrated in a handful of countries — remains outside the EU Critical Raw Materials framework. This report provides the first comprehensive analysis of circular economy strategies across the entire uranium supply chain, identifying twelve circularity patterns ranging from recovering mining tailings to spent fuel reprocessing and accelerator-driven waste transmutation. A systematic review of 1,383 scientific articles reveals that circular economy research in this domain is growing rapidly but remains highly fragmented, overwhelmingly focused on end-of-life reprocessing, and stuck at medium technology readiness levels, with no study to date adopting a holistic multi-strategy perspective. Circularity is not merely an ambition: reprocessed nuclear fuel already offsets nearly 5% of annual EU natural uranium requirements, and projected secondary source use is set to triple by 2034, making recycling a concrete instrument of energy security. It is now essential to go beyond that with a holistic view on all circular strategies possible across the supply chain. Key EU policy actions going forward may include: funding R&I to advance circular technologies toward industrial scale, as well as their synergistic integration; embedding circularity as an explicit pillar in nuclear coordination mechanisms; and considering the inclusion of uranium in the Critical Raw Materials list to establish binding targets for fuel reprocessing and supply chain resource efficiency.

BALDASSARRE Brian;  ANDRIEU Baptiste;  CABRERA SERRENHO André; 

2026-06-12

Publications Office of the European Union

JRC146172

978-92-68-38892-1 (online),   

1831-9424 (online),   

EUR 40685,    OP KJ-01-26-154-EN-N (online),   

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC146172,   

10.2760/3490567 (online),