Cameco Controls the Uranium Refinery That Canada Cannot Afford to Lose

Cameco (NYSE: CCJ) owns the largest commercial uranium refinery in the world. And it's not in Kazakhstan, China, or Russia. It's in Blind River, Ontario, Canada.

The Blind River refinery takes uranium concentrate (commonly called yellowcake) and removes impurities to produce uranium trioxide, or UO₃. That material is then shipped to Cameco's Port Hope facility, where it's converted into what ultimately becomes nuclear fuel. Blind River currently has a production capacity of 18 million kilograms of uranium annually and is licensed for up to 24 million kilograms. Indeed, Cameco is much more than just a uranium miner.

Cameco controls more of the fuel cycle

Mining uranium is only the beginning of the nuclear fuel cycle. Before uranium can fuel most reactors, it has to be refined, converted, and, depending on the reactor, enriched and fabricated into fuel rods. Cameco participates in several of those steps.

After uranium is refined at Blind River, much of the UO₃ travels to Cameco's Port Hope Conversion Facility. Port Hope converts it into either uranium hexafluoride, or UF₆, which can be enriched for light-water reactors, or uranium dioxide (UO₂), which is used to produce fuel for Canada's CANDU reactors, which are heavy water (deuterium oxide) reactors.

Now you have to understand that Port Hope would be particularly difficult to replace. It's Canada's only uranium conversion facility, one of only a handful of Western suppliers of UF₆, and the world's only commercial supplier of natural UO₂ used in CANDU reactors. That's a strategic position few nuclear companies can match. And demand is strong.

Cameco produced 6.3 million kilograms of fuel-services products during the first half of 2026 and still expects to produce between 13 million and 14 million kilograms for the full year. Those facilities aren't sitting around waiting for customers, either. Cameco entered 2026 with contracts covering roughly 83 million kilograms of UF₆ conversion services for 33 utilities around the world.

Image source: Getty Images.

A different way to invest in nuclear power

This is one of the reasons I continue to like Cameco as a long-term nuclear investment. You see, companies like Oklo (NYSE: OKLO) and NuScale (NYSE: SMR) need to successfully commercialize new reactor designs before they can generate substantial reactor-related revenue. Cameco doesn't need to predict which advanced reactor company will ultimately win the race to commercialize its designs.

Existing nuclear plants need fuel today. New reactors will need fuel tomorrow. Cameco can sell the uranium, refine it, convert it, manufacture CANDU fuel, and, through its stake in Westinghouse Electric Company, participate in the reactor business itself.

Understandably, the Blind River refinery and Port Hope conversion facility won't generate the excitement of a new small modular reactor. But they occupy critical positions in a Western nuclear fuel supply chain that's becoming increasingly valuable as electricity demand rises and utilities look to nuclear power for reliable, around-the-clock generation. And of course, more nuclear generation means more demand for uranium, conversion services, and nuclear fuel -- exactly the parts of the supply chain Cameco already controls.

Canada might not be literally unable to survive without these facilities. But replacing them would be extraordinarily difficult. And that gives Cameco a very real and strategic advantage as the global energy economy continues to rapidly expand.

Jeff Siegel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Cameco. The Motley Fool recommends NuScale Power. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.