Global electricity demand projections are being recalibrated as artificial intelligence and hyperscale data centers move from marginal load drivers to structural forces in energy planning. According to Uranium Unlocked: The Future of AI & Global Energy Demand, a new institutional research study commissioned by Uranium.io and based on responses from more than 600 investors, this shift is already altering long-term expectations for nuclear generation and uranium procurement at a time when supply fundamentals are tightening.
The survey points to a growing consensus that existing uranium production will struggle to keep pace with reactor requirements. A majority of respondents expect mined uranium to supply less than 75 percent of projected demand in the coming years, reflecting years of underinvestment, extended permitting timelines, and the erosion of secondary supplies such as government stockpiles and reprocessed material. Against that backdrop, more than 85 percent of investors anticipate higher uranium prices through 2026, with many citing a $100 to $120 per pound range as increasingly plausible. Some respondents referenced external forecasts, including Bank of America’s $135 per pound scenario, as credible if new supply remains slow to materialize.
The influence of AI-driven electricity demand features prominently in these expectations. Sixty-three percent of respondents said AI and data center growth will become a material factor in nuclear planning over the next decade, arguing that conventional demand models underestimate the scale and persistence of digital load growth. Unlike intermittent consumption, hyperscale computing requires continuous, high-reliability power, pushing nuclear back into focus as a source of low-carbon baseload capacity in markets already facing grid constraints.
Policy signals are reinforcing that shift. Eighty-eight percent of investors pointed to announced or proposed nuclear capacity additions across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia as supportive of long-term uranium demand. Respondents highlighted U.S. and Canadian incentives aimed at sustaining domestic nuclear fleets, Europe’s evolving treatment of nuclear within sustainable finance frameworks, and state-backed expansion programs in countries such as China, South Korea, and the UAE. Together, these developments suggest that nuclear is being repositioned less as a transitional technology and more as a core component of future clean power systems.
Investor framing of uranium is also changing. Rather than viewing it primarily through the lens of reactor build cycles, respondents increasingly emphasized energy security and supply chain resilience. Concentration risks in uranium mining, enrichment, and conversion, along with geopolitical exposure in key processing stages, were cited as structural vulnerabilities. Several respondents pointed to the roughly 133 percent rise in spot prices since 2020 as evidence that the market is already responding to constrained supply and limited production elasticity.
Despite rising interest, participation barriers remain a central issue. Ninety percent of surveyed investors said they would increase exposure to uranium if market transparency and access improved, while three-quarters indicated willingness to consider alternative access routes where direct participation is restricted by regulation or logistics. The findings underscore a growing disconnect between institutional conviction on long-term demand fundamentals and the practical ability to gain exposure beyond traditional utility procurement channels.
As Ben Elvidge, who leads the Uranium.io project, noted, institutional appetite is rising faster than market infrastructure is adapting. With AI-driven electricity demand reshaping nuclear economics and uranium supply responding slowly to price signals, that mismatch is becoming a defining feature of the sector’s next phase.
