Leading North American uranium supplier and international energy group Uranium One is teaming up with distributed ledger technology firm Insolar to research the possibility of deploying a blockchain-based solution for commodity settlement. Uranium One is a global energy company and one of the world’s largest uranium producers, with a diverse portfolio of assets worldwide. Insolar is a leading technology company which powers trusted enterprise data exchange based on its next-generation Assured Ledger technology. Insolar’s solutions ensure data consistency, transparency and security.

Uranium One is part of Russian uranium mining giant Rosatom. All Russian uranium producers are part of the mining division of Rosatom while non-Russian uranium mining ventures are run by Uranium One.

Uranium market trading is still largely conducted on paper. Conclusion and execution of transactions on paper can be inefficient and time-consuming. Because trading is cross-jurisdictional, contracts are not standardised and can require considerable time for agreement by the parties. Blockchain is an ideal solution as it can provided a trusted and standardised format, including shared governance.

Insolar has previously created a demo of how this solution would work to address the industry choke points, demonstrating how the over-the-counter uranium market can be digitised and ultimately automated so that transactions no longer need to be inefficiently handled on a case-by-case basis.

“A blockchain platform with advanced capabilities can significantly simplify trading activities in the market, meeting the increased requirements of market participants for security. Insolar’s partnership with a leader in its industry will demonstrate the potential of our solutions,” noted Insolar CEO, Andrey Zhulin.

“We are exploring the possibilities of a distributed ledger for the commodity supply markets. In this regard, we are interested in solutions in this area and the Insolar DLT-product, which in its many characteristics is ahead of existing Distributed Ledger Technology systems,” said Andrei Cherniakov, Uranium One Trading AG’s Executive Director. The President of Uranium One Americas Inc, Fletcher Newton, added, “We are exploring the potential that implementation of novel technologies can offer in very specific areas of our operations. Things look very promising for the possible implementation of these new technologies, although we are mindful that in a traditional market like ours that has long-accepted and well-established ways of doing business one needs to tread carefully in considering the use of such new technologies.”