Research task (Current Events):
Generate a short investor report on the main geopolitical and market factors affecting global uranium prices in the 2025 fiscal year.

Evaluation rubric:
criterion: The response provides the price of uranium for the past 3 months on at least one exchange.
weight: 5
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response provides at least three secondary indicators (e.g., investor attention and speculation, geopolitics, domestic nuclear policies, global economic health) for investors to follow affecting the price of uranium.
weight: 2
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response mentions the U.S. sanctions on imports of Russian uranium.
weight: 4
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response discusses the role of Central Asian geopolitics (e.g., trade agreements between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistans, relations between Kazkhstan and Russia, pro-nuclear agenda of major Central Asian suppliers, developing trade passages across the Caspian to bypass Russia) on the global price of uranium. 
weight: 4
axis: Explicit Criteria

criterion: The response states that Kazakhstan accounts for 40-45% of the world's primary uranium production.
weight: 4
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response is structured as a professional investor report and not a routine exposition (e.g., including price history, supply and demand fundamentals, explictly linking prices and projections to demand drivers, geopolitical factors, and macro/microeconomic factors). 
weight: 5
axis: Explicit Criteria

criterion: The response includes any factual errors about current market conditions (e.g., outdated trade agreements, incorrect forex calculations, unsound projections using spot prices, missing merger/acquisitions, outdated supply estimates).
weight: -5
axis: Explicit Criteria

criterion: The response mentions the development of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), which are smaller, advanced reactors that have small physical footprints and reduced capital investment leading to potentially wider adoption.
weight: 2
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response discusses at least 3 of the top 10 uranium companies by market capitalization (e.g., Cameco, China National Nuclear Power, BWX Technologies, Kazatomprom, Oklo, Uranium Energy, NuScale Power, NexGen Energy, Centrus Energy, Energy Fuels). 
weight: 5
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response lists the top 5 uranium producers according to the the most up-to-date surveys (1. Kazakhstan, 2. Canada, 3. Namibia, 4. Australia, 5. Uzbekistan).
weight: 5
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response distinguishes between the uranium spot market (where material is bought and sold for delivery within a year, a transactional market / for immediate needs) and the long-term contract market (multi-year, strategically negotiated agreements between uranium producers and the nuclear utility companies) regarding the impact on uranium pricing.
weight: 5
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response mentions the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust (SPUT), a Toronto-based holding company investing nearly all of its assets in uranium and tracks its price.
weight: 4
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response identifies a specific projected impact of Sprott Physical Uranium Trust (SPUT) on uranium prices this fiscal year, going beyond "SPUT causes uranium prices to rise".
weight: 2
axis: Synthesis of Information

criterion: The response discusses at least two technological advancements (decreased battery/base by-product, freeze wall ISR, sabre mining, efficient enrichment via SILEX) that will affect the price of uranium.
weight: 5
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response discusses Iran's nuclear program out of the context of how it affects global uranium prices.
weight: -3
axis: Synthesis of Information

criterion: The response refrains from specific buy/sell recommendations.
weight: 4
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response references at least two governmental policies that support the nuclear energy demand (e.g., U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, COP28 Declaration, Chinese national policy to acquire one-third of its uranium supply domestically, the Net Zero Nuclear initative).
weight: 3
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response discusses the uranium market specifically in the current fiscal year.
weight: 5
axis: Explicit Criteria

criterion: The response includes a non-profit or government source for uranium production numbers in tonnes per year.
weight: 10
axis: References & Citation Quality

criterion: The response links the impact of UF6 (enriched uranium) supply, which is also affected by the separation process for the enrichment, on uranium prices.
weight: 4
axis: Synthesis of Information

criterion: The response groups related points (i.e., geopolitical and market factors) into distinct sections or paragraphs.
weight: 3
axis: Communication Quality

criterion: The response connects underlying price factors (i.e., geopolitics, global economic health) to forward-looking risk factors for uranium investors this fiscal year (e.g., U.S.-Russia tariffs, secondary supply depletion, Kazakhstani global production goals, Russo-Ukrainian War).
weight: 4
axis: Synthesis of Information

criterion: The response provides a quantitative estimate for the long-term incentive price required to bring new uranium mines into production.
weight: 3
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response explains the effects of the "Megatons to Megawatts" program (e.g., higher prices in Western countries due to laxer production programs, Russia becomes a major supplier of uranium, non-embargo of Russian nuclear fuel).
weight: 1
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response identifies at least one key Western company involved in uranium conversion or enrichment (e.g., Urenco, Centrus, BWXT, enCore Energy Corp).
weight: 4
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response analyzes the impact of the current interest rate environment on the cost of capital for uranium developers seeking to finance new mines.
weight: 4
axis: Synthesis of Information

criterion: The response correctly links the continuing Russo-Ukrainian war to increased global uranium prices due to fear and uncertainty in the nuclear energy market regarding one of the world's largest suppliers of enriched uranium (Russia). 
weight: 4
axis: Synthesis of Information

criterion: The response is concise and does not approach the length of an annual investor report or white paper. 
weight: 5
axis: Explicit Criteria