Brazil’s INB to Resume Uranium Concentrate Exports After Five-Year Hiatus, Launches International Tender

Indústrias Nucleares do Brasil (INB), linked to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, will resume exporting uranium concentrate after a five-year pause, with an international tender scheduled for April to contract a company for conversion services. The state-owned enterprise plans to send approximately 250 tonnes of yellowcake produced at its Caetité facility in Bahia state for conversion into gas, which will then return to Brazil for processing into nuclear fuel elements for the Angra 1 and 2 reactors.

Under the tender terms, INB will provide international maritime transport while the contracted company assumes insurance responsibility for potential losses and damages during transit. The company will notify the contractor of cargo readiness between one and five months after contract signature, with actual shipment occurring within three months of notification. The contractor must deliver converted material to an enrichment facility designated by INB within 10 months of yellowcake shipment. INB president Adauto Seixas confirmed the 250-tonne export should complete by August.

This export arrangement reflects Brazil’s complex nuclear fuel cycle despite advancing domestic capabilities. INB exercises the federal monopoly on production and commercialization of nuclear materials and also provides fuel engineering services and component manufacturing. The country holds the world’s seventh-largest uranium reserves according to the World Nuclear Association, though mapping has covered only 30 percent of national territory since the 1970s, suggesting potential for significantly larger deposits.

Brazil currently produces enriched uranium at its National Fuel Factory in Resende, Rio de Janeiro state, using ultracentrifuge technology developed domestically by the Institute for Energy and Nuclear Research and the Navy’s Technology Center. Recent expansion to a ninth ultracentrifuge cascade, following a 54 million reais investment, enables Brazil to meet 65 percent of annual reload requirements for both Angra reactors. The country targets full self-sufficiency for Angra 1 and 2 by 2033, though complete independence including Angra 3 would require 30 cascades by 2037.

Nuclear energy currently represents 1.2 percent of Brazil’s energy matrix, with Angra units supplying 50 percent of Rio de Janeiro state’s electricity. The Ministry of Mines and Energy’s National Energy Plan 2050 projects completing Angra 3 and constructing an additional reactor by 2031.