Our Strategy

We are a pure-play investment in the growing demand for nuclear energy, focused on taking advantage of the near-, medium- and long-term growth occurring in our industry. We provide nuclear fuel and nuclear power products, services and technologies across the fuel and reactor life cycles, augmented by our investment in Westinghouse, that supports the generation of carbon-free, reliable, secure and affordable energy. 

Our strategy is set within the context of what we believe is a transitioning market environment. Increasing populations, a growing focus on electrification and decarbonization, and concerns about energy security and affordability are driving a global focus on tripling nuclear power capacity by 2050, which is expected to durably strengthen long-term fundamentals for our industry. Nuclear energy must be a central part of the solution to achieving energy growth and national security objectives, and helping the world shift to a low-carbon, climate resilient economy. It is an option that can provide the necessary power in a carbon-free, reliable and affordable manner.

Our strategy is to capture full-cycle value by:

  • remaining disciplined in our contracting activity, building a balanced portfolio in accordance with our contracting framework
  • profitably producing from our tier-one assets and aligning our production decisions in all segments of our business with our contract portfolio and customer needs
  • being financially disciplined allows us to
    • execute on our strategy
    • invest in new opportunities that are expected to add long-term value
    • self-manage risk
  • exploring other emerging opportunities within the nuclear power value chain that align with our commitment to manage our business responsibly and sustainably, contribute to decarbonization, and help to provide secure and affordable energy

We expect our strategy will allow us to increase long-term value, and we will execute it with an emphasis on safety, people and the environment.

Our vision – “Powering a secure energy future” – recognizes that we have an important role to play in achieving energy security, national security and climate security. Our uranium and fuel services are used around the world in the generation of safe, reliable, zero-carbon, baseload nuclear power, which is crucial to energy security. In times of geopolitical uncertainty, a secure source of nuclear fuel is more important than ever as it also supports national security objectives. Additionally, Cameco supports climate security by enabling the generation of carbon-free nuclear power, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change. Cameco's strategic initiatives, such as its partnership with Net Zero Nuclear, aim to expand global nuclear capacity and support the transition to a low-carbon economy. 

We believe we have the right strategy to achieve our vision, and we will do so in a manner that reflects our values. For more than 35 years, we have been committed to operating and delivering our products responsibly and profitably. We integrate sustainability principles and practices into every aspect of our business, from our corporate objectives and approach to compensation to our overall corporate strategy, risk management, and day-to-day operations, and they align with our values. We seek to be transparent with our stakeholders, keeping them updated on the risks and opportunities that we believe may have a significant impact on our ability to achieve our strategic plan and add long-term value. We recognize the importance of integrating certain sustainability factors, such as safety performance, a clean environment and supportive communities, into our executive compensation strategy as we see success in these areas as critical to the long-term success of the company.

You can read more about our strategy in our 2024 annual MD&A and our approach to sustainability in our 2023 Sustainability Report.

Uranium

Uranium production is central to our strategy, as it is the biggest value driver of the nuclear fuel cycle and our business. We have tier-one assets that are licensed, permitted, long-lived, and are proven reliable with capacity to expand. These tier-one assets are backed up by idle tier-two assets and what we think is the best exploration portfolio of mineral reserves and resources that in some cases can leverage our existing infrastructure. Currently, we believe that we have ample productive capacity with the ability to expand as the demand for nuclear energy and nuclear fuel grows.

We are focused on protecting and extending the value of our contract portfolio, on aligning our production decisions with our contract portfolio and market opportunities thereby optimizing the value of our lowest cost assets. We also prioritize maintaining a strong balance sheet, and on efficiently managing the company. We have undertaken a number of deliberate and disciplined actions, including a focus on operational effectiveness to allow us to operate our assets more efficiently and with more flexibility.
 

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Fuel services

Our fuel services segment supports our strategy to capture full-cycle value by providing our customers with access to refining and conversion services for both heavy-water and light-water reactors, and CANDU fuel and reactor component manufacturing for heavy-water reactors.

As in our uranium segment, we are focused on securing new long-term contracts and on aligning our production decisions with our contract portfolio that will allow us to continue to profitably produce and consistently support the long-term needs of our customers.

In addition, we are pursuing non-traditional markets for our UO2 and fuel fabrication business and have been actively securing new contracts for reactor components to support refurbishment of Canadian reactors.

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Westinghouse

In 2023, we completed the acquisition of Westinghouse, a global provider of mission‐critical and specialized technologies, products and services for light-water reactors across most phases of the nuclear power sector, in a strategic partnership with Brookfield. We own a 49% interest in Westinghouse.

We are enhancing our ability to compete for more business by investing in additional nuclear fuel cycle assets that we expect will augment the core of our business and offer more solutions to our customers across the nuclear fuel cycle. Like Cameco, Westinghouse has nuclear assets that are strategic, proven, licensed and permitted, and that are in geopolitically attractive jurisdictions. We expect these assets, like ours, will participate in the growing demand profile for nuclear energy.

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Global Laser Enrichment

We are interested in the second largest value driver of the fuel cycle, enrichment, and have a 49% interest in Global Laser Enrichment LLC (GLE). GLE is the exclusive licensee of the proprietary SILEX laser enrichment technology, a third-generation uranium enrichment technology. We are the commercial lead for the GLE project with a 49% interest and starting in 2023, an option to attain a majority interest of up to 75% ownership.

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We continually evaluate investment opportunities within the nuclear fuel value chain that align well with our commitment to add long-term value by managing our business responsibly and sustainably, and allow us to contribute to energy security solutions. Expanding our participation in the fuel cycle is expected to complement our tier-one uranium and fuel services assets, creating new revenue opportunities, and it enhances our ability to meet the increasing needs of existing and new customers for secure, reliable nuclear fuel supplies, services and technologies. 

Caution about Forward-Looking Information 
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