As of 2026-09-11 · the last 10 years
Uranium’s research intensity remains at about 24% of its all-time peak, a level that has held steady since the window began, even as its share of global scientific attention has risen.
Research intensity ran from about 24% of the element's own all-time peak in 2016 to about 24% in 2026 — essentially flat across the window, and the all-time peak (1961) lies before this window. Over the same span its share of research attention across all elements rose. Among the 118 elements, uranium has a mid-sized research literature.
The number of papers involving the element rose from about 12,394 in 2016 to about 20,973 in 2025 (1.69x). That is slower than the literature as a whole grew over the same years, so the element lost ground in the wider body of research even as its own count rose.
The dominant research community is Uranium Extraction, Separation, and Nuclear Fuel Cycle Chemistry. This group focuses on adsorption, recovery, and enhanced extraction techniques, with significant work on uranium seawater and organic frameworks. Uranium is central to this community, appearing in about 36% of its papers. It accounts for about 59% of uranium’s recent research, a share that has risen from 53% in the previous period. A key paper in this area is "Tuning excited state electronic structure and charge transport in covalent organic frameworks for enhanced photocatalytic performance" (2023), cited over 470 times.
The second major community is Uranium Nitride and Mixed-Oxide Fuel Properties, a subcommunity within broader actinide chemistry. These papers examine the synthesis and thermal properties of uranium nitride and mixed uranium-plutonium fuels, distinct from general actinide complex chemistry. Uranium is one strand of this broader community, involved in about 22% of its papers. This community represents about 14% of uranium’s recent research, a decline from 19% in the earlier period. Notable work includes "Near-Unity Energy Transfer from Uranyl to Europium in a Heterobimetallic Organic Framework with Record-Breaking Quantum Yield" (2023), cited over 120 times.
A third, smaller community is Uranium Ore Genesis in Sedimentary and Desert Basins. This research examines the mineralization and formation of uranium deposits, specifically unconformity-related and desert-hosted occurrences. Uranium is a minor presence in this much larger community, involved in only about 5% of its papers. It holds about 5% of uranium’s recent research, a steady share compared to the previous period. An anchor paper here is "Age and composition of young basalts on the Moon, measured from samples returned by Chang’e-5" (2021), cited over 350 times.
Overall, the literature is consolidating around extraction and fuel cycle chemistry, which gained share, while fuel properties research lost ground. The remainder of the research, held by other smaller communities, has remained steady.
For a deeper look at the current state of uranium research, see the element's Last 12 Months and Executive Brief reports.
What changed in the past year: new papers, shifting applications, emerging collaborators. See the momentum over a shorter window than the decade view.
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