28 Minerals Council of Australia Given the distribution of uranium resources a round the world and t h e location of nuclear power plants both operational and proposed i t i s very clear that international trade in uranium is important 6 Australia as a responsible supplier According to the W orld Nuclear Association there are 437 operational nuclear reactors with an additional 65 reactors under construction and 165 in the planning stage T able 10 shows the location of nuclear power plants in relation to the worlds top 10 producers of uranium in 2013 Of the top 10 uranium producers Canada China the Russian F ederation and the United States already have a large proportion of the 437 operational nuclear power plants The remainder some 60 per cent of nuclear reactors are in nations outside the t o p 1 0 producer list This implies an active i n t e r n a t i o n a l trade market for uranium Of those plants currently under construction o r b e i n g planned just under half of them are in nations not in the t o p 1 0 p r o d u c e r list This too suggests an ongoing role for international trade in uranium Given that there are international concerns relating to the sale and usage of uranium there is a strong argument for Australia increasing its participation in the global market Australia is a politically stable liberal democracy that is wellregarded and well established as an energy exporter Increased participation in the global uranium market Nuclear power plants Production 2013 Reserves US130 Operational Under construct Planned Proposed Kazakhstan 22567 285600 0 0 2 2 Canada 9332 357500 19 0 2 3 Australia 6350 1174000 0 0 0 0 Niger 4528 325000 0 0 0 0 Namibia 4315 248200 0 0 0 0 Russian F ed 3135 216500 34 9 31 18 Uzbekistan 2400 59400 0 0 0 0 United States 1835 207400 99 5 5 17 China 1450 120000 26 23 45 127 Malawi 1132 8200 0 0 0 0 T op 10 57044 3001800 178 37 85 167 T otal 59673 3698900 437 65 165 316 T able 10 The scope for uranium trade Source World Nuclear Association