LONDON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - A blockchain platform and a

uranium trading company launched a marketplace on Tuesday to

allow small investors to buy physical uranium, hoping to boost

spot liquidity in the niche commodity.

Uranium has seen a surge in interest from investors and a

spike in prices in recent years as miners trimmed output and

utilities sought new supplies of mineral that fuels nuclear

power.

A surge in electricity demand for artificial intelligence

(AI) data centres is also spurring new interest in nuclear

plants.

Previously, retail investors could get exposure to the metal

by buying shares in mining companies or funds that hold

inventories of uranium.

Now they will be able to buy small amounts of physical

uranium that will be tokenised on a blockchain and stored in a

depository, with the tokens representing a share of the

underlying asset.

"This is the democratisation of uranium so everyone can buy

it," said Nick Clarke, founder of private trading company Curzon

Uranium.

Unlike gold or platinum, which is sold in small bars to

investors, the minimum lot for buying uranium oxide or

yellowcake is 50,000 pounds, which would cost over $4 million.

The new trading website (www.uranium.io) uses technology

from open-source blockchain platform Tezos, with supplies

sourced by Curzon.

The physical uranium will be stored in facilities owned by

Canadian producer Cameco ( CCJ ).

Small investors can get exposure to physical uranium through

funds such as Sprott or Yellowcake, but those

shares trade on the stock market and can diverge from the

uranium price.

The metal has captured investors' attention after spot

prices doubled over 10 months to a peak of $106 a pound

in January as top producers Kazatomprom and Cameco ( CCJ )

cut production guidance. Prices have eased since then

to $77.

Nuclear energy has seen more interest to help countries cut

their carbon emissions, while several deals have been sealed

this year to source power from nuclear plants for AI data

centres, including by Google, Amazon ( AMZN ) and Microsoft ( MSFT ).