Tool
What would it take?
Pick a technology and a quantity. The calculator multiplies out the material bill and puts each total next to the entire world’s annual production of that material — which is usually the number that changes how the answer feels.
10,000,000 × Pressurised Water Reactor — The most common reactor design: enriched uranium fuel in zirconium tubes, water as both coolant and moderator.
Quantities are per GW of capacity indicative range tonnes of contained material
Scroll the table sideways for the remaining columns.
| Material | Per unit | Total, low | Total, high | World annual production | Share of a year’s supply |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copper | 1,000–2,000 t | 10.00 billion t | 20.00 billion t | 23.00 million tMine production, 2025 | 86956.5% |
| Nickel | 500.0–1,500 t | 5.00 billion t | 15.00 billion t | 3.90 million tMine production, 2025 | 384615.4% |
| Uranium Depends on enrichment level and tails assay; the loaded fuel is far less. | 150.0–250.0 t | 1.50 billion t | 2.50 billion t | not published | — |
| Zirconium | 20.00–40.00 t | 200.00 million t | 400.00 million t | 1.20 million tZirconium mineral concentrates, mine production (thousand metric tons, gross weight), 2025 | 33333.3% |
| Boron | 5.00–20.00 t | 50.00 million t | 200.00 million t | not published | — |
| Hafnium | 0.5–3.00 t | 5.00 million t | 30.00 million t | not published | — |
Intensity ranges are indicative, compiled from published technology studies and chemistry — not a manufacturer specification. World production is USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, 2025 (estimated), converted to tonnes of the same basis where the source reports thousands of tonnes or kilograms · source ↗. This is an educational order-of-magnitude tool. It is not a procurement estimate and must not be used as one.