The price of uranium oxide is expected to climb as high as $100 a pound this year for the first time in history on the back of speculative interest in the commodity as well as strong demand from the nuclear power sector.

After falling to a multi-year low of $6.40 in the first quarter of 2000, the price of uranium rocketed elevenfold.

The last quoted price for uranium oxide was a record $72 a pound.

Adam Schatzker, a Toronto-based analyst for RBC Capital Markets, expected the price of uranium to climb to $100 a pound this year. He expected the global market for uranium to be in deficit this year and next year.

For next year, Schatzker forecast a uranium price of $85 a pound, followed by $75 a pound in both 2009 and 2010, and then $50 a pound from 2011 to 2015. The long-term price was $25, he added.

The average price last year was $47.56 a pound compared with $27.89 in 2005.

Uranium One chief executive Neal Froneman forecasts that uranium will break $100 a pound this year.

Schatzker said: "We continue to believe that strong uranium prices should provide sufficient incentive for exploration and investment, and ensure that the supply-demand gap will be filled after 2013."

Toronto-based Scotiabank commodity market analyst Patricia Mohr expected uranium oxide to climb as high as $90 a pound this year. She said uranium should average close to $80 a pound during the year.

The price of uranium would continue to climb due to the very tight spot market for the commodity.

There was a great deal of interest from power utilities around the world in entering into contracts for the supply of uranium, Mohr said. Many utilities needed to restock with the metal.

It was estimated that 168 new nuclear power stations would need to be built before 2020.

Uranium is used as fuel for nuclear reactors and the explosive material for nuclear weapons.

Depleted uranium is used in armour plating.