Uranium

Kakadu National Park uranium mining. Photo by Alberto Otero García, taken on August 7, 2009. Licensed under: CC BY – NC – ND 2.0

Cambodia’s potential for uranium mining was examined in 1977 by the International Atomic Energy Agency under its International Uranium Resources Evaluation Projects and National Favorability Studies. The findings indicated that Cambodia’s uranium potential is limited.

“The uranium potential of Cambodia is in metamorphic and intrusive in the Cardamon and Elephant mountain areas in the south, where limited outcrops can be found, and to a limited extent in placer deposits along the Mekong River. However, the quantity of potential lies on category 1 (quantity less than 1000 tonnes U.)” ¹ To date, there have not been any further recoveries in the studied areas.

Regional trends

Vietnam has plans to build nuclear reactors in the south of the country to generate electricity, but in January 2014 the government said it expected a delay of up to four years, due to continuing negotiations on technology and financing.² Nuclear power generation has also been proposed in Thailand, although no reactors have been constructed.³

Last update 22 July 2015