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Uranium and Nuclear Power Industry

EU goes hunting for Central Asia’s mineral riches at Samarkand summit – by Emma Collet (Euractiv.com – April 3, 2025)

https://www.euractiv.com/

Central Asia could become something like the El Dorado of European dreams.

SAMARKAND, UZBEKISTAN – With access to rare metals and critical minerals on their minds, a number of top EU leaders are travelling to Samarkand to meet with Central Asian presidents in a glittering palace on the outskirts of this ancient crossroads city.

Central Asian leaders invited the European Union with a mix of enthusiasm and caution to gather on Thursday and Friday in Samarkand, situated along the historic Silk Road trade routes which now serves as Uzbekistan’s host city for major diplomatic meetings

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Orano considering sale of Niger uranium assets (Mining Technology – May 19, 2025)

https://www.mining-technology.com/

The company operates three mines in Niger through a JV with the government, which seized power in a coup in 2023.

Orano, a French state-owned nuclear fuel company, is considering selling its uranium assets in Niger following a collapse in relations with the country’s military-led government, reported the Financial Times, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

The company operates three mines in Niger through a joint venture (JV) with the government, which seized power in a coup in 2023. Orano has faced challenges in the region, including the arbitrary arrest, illegal detention and unjust confiscation of property involving its staff and assets.

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‘A total surprise’: Municipalities unprepared for uranium exploration in their backyard – by Frances Willick (CBC News Nova Scotia – May 20, 2025)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/

Leaders say they need more information and education about the issue

Some municipal leaders are feeling unprepared and uninformed after learning their regions could become home to the first uranium exploration in Nova Scotia in almost 45 years.

On Wednesday, the Nova Scotia government issued a request for exploration proposals at three sites it believes have uranium deposits. The three sites include areas near Louisville in Pictou County, East Dalhousie in Annapolis County and Millet Brook in Hants County. “It’s a total surprise to us,” said Robert Parker, warden of Pictou County.

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Cameco CEO says Carney supportive of nuclear energy industry as uranium demand grows – by Michael Joel-Hansen (Financial Post – May 16, 2025)

https://financialpost.com/

Speedy development of resource projects could be crucial for Canada’s uranium industry

The chief executive of the world’s largest uranium miner believes Prime Minister Mark Carney will be supportive of Canada’s nuclear industry as it looks ahead to meet growing demand. Saskatoon-based Cameco Corp. chief executive Tim Gitzel said the federal government needs to be interested in growing nuclear energy and hopes that will happen under Carney’s leadership, based on past dealings with the prime minister.

Carney and Gitzel met previously amid a joint deal between Cameco and Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. to buy Westinghouse Electric Co. in 2023. At the time, Carney was chair and head of Transition Investing at Brookfield.

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Uranium added to Nova Scotia critical minerals list as province seeks exploration – by Keith Doucette (Canadian Press/CBC Nova Scotia – May 14, 2025)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/

Potential exploration sites are in Pictou County, Annapolis County and Hants County

The Nova Scotia government added uranium to its list of priority critical minerals on Wednesday and issued a request for exploration proposals at three sites the province says have known deposits of the heavy metal.

Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton says the government hopes to reap economic benefits from the exploration in the future, although a department official said any potential mining project could be “decades” away.

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Could thorium be the world’s next great source of fuel? – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – May 16, 2025)

https://financialpost.com/

“Rabbits sometimes make mistakes or grow lazy. That’s when the tortoise seizes its chance.” That’s how a scientist from China recently described the Asian giant’s progress in using thorium — a silvery-white radioactive metal that’s more abundant in the earth’s crust than uranium — to generate power.

Xu Hongjie reportedly used the folklore saying in a closed-door meeting at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in April to suggest China had overtaken the United States in this specific field, according to the South China Morning Post. But could thorium really be used as a viable source for fuel in the near future or even replace uranium in nuclear reactors? Here’s what you need to know.

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Utah leaders praise Trump’s fast-tracking of a ‘vital’ uranium mine. Environmentalists say the move ‘beggars belief.’ – by Anastasia Hufham (Salt Lake Tribune – May 16, 2025)

https://www.sltrib.com/

State leaders have nothing but praise for the Trump administration’s decision to significantly shorten the environmental review process of a southeastern Utah uranium project.

Earlier this week, the Department of the Interior announced it was fast-tracking the permitting process for Anfield Energy Inc.’s plans to reopen the Velvet-Wood uranium mine in San Juan County. The environmental assessment for the project must be completed by the Bureau of Land Management in just 14 days — as opposed to the prior timeline of months or years.

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France’s Orano files lawsuit over staff detention in Niger – by Anna Peverieri, Forrest Crellin and Portia Crowe(Reuters – May 13, 2025)

https://www.reuters.com/

French uranium miner Orano said on Tuesday it had filed a lawsuit with the Niger courts over the “arbitrary arrest, illegal detention and unjust confiscation of property” involving its staff and assets in the country.

Niger and neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso have been stepping up pressure on foreign mining companies over the past year, seizing assets and removing permits as all three Sahel countries look to assert more sovereignty over their natural resources.

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US set to fast-track Utah uranium mining permit in push for domestic energy supply – by Neetika Walter (MSN.com – May 12, 2025)

https://www.msn.com/

Even as the U.S. and China slashed tariffs amid a 90-day trade truce, critical minerals were conspicuously missing from the deal — a silence that reflects their growing strategic weight. With China tightening its grip on rare earth exports, the U.S. is doubling down on efforts to secure domestic supplies of materials vital to clean energy, defense, and tech manufacturing.

As part of this push, the Trump administration announced on Monday that it will be fast-tracking environmental permitting for Anfield Energy’s proposed Velvet-Wood uranium mine project, slashing the review timeline to just 14 days.

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Ontario’s Darlington SMR project to cost nearly $21-billion, significantly higher than expected – by Matthew McClearn (Globe and Mail – May 9, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Ontario Power Generation’s plan to construct the first small modular reactor in a G7 country has an official price tag of $7.7-billion – which independent observers say is higher than necessary to spark widespread adoption.

On Thursday, the Ontario government announced that its wholly owned utility can spend $6.1-billion to build the first BWRX-300 reactor adjacent to OPG’s existing Darlington Nuclear Generating Station. It can spend another $1.6-billion on infrastructure such as administrative buildings and cooling water tunnels the new reactor will share with three additional BWRX-300s to be built later.

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A fork in the road: As bifurcation hits the global uranium industry, the secure path leads to Canada: – by Sergey Sukhankin (MacDonald Laurier Institute – May 7, 2025)

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Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has forever changed global commodities markets. The economic sanctions subsequently imposed on Russia exposed multiple risks related to (over)reliance on a single or dominant suppliers of critical materials (Sukhankin 2024a). The European Union (EU) was hit particularly hard thanks to its decades-long reliance on Russia’s inexpensive commodities. The EU’s dependence also made it vulnerable to external pressure and blackmail.

The “Russia sanctions” fallout has revealed a much bigger problem. While natural resources will continue to be used as a geopolitical weapon in the unfolding East-West rivalry, the focus is likely to shift from hydrocarbons to critical minerals in the medium-term. This trend is visible in China’s series of decisions (2023–25) to restrict exports of several types of critical metals and technologies (Shivaprasad, Lv, and Jackson 2024) that are instrumental for innovation and technological sectors of Western economies.

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Opinion: What about processing in this nuclear boom? – by Shaun Spelliscy (Northern Miner – May 9, 2025)

https://www.northernminer.com/

A few months ago, I joined a group of farmers discussing Saskatchewan’s modular nuclear reactor proposal. I supported the idea but raised a simple question: Where will Saskatchewan source the fuel? One farmer shot back, “Are you stupid? We have some of the world’s largest uranium reserves right here in the Athabasca Basin.”

What Farmer Jed didn’t realize is that a Candu nuclear reactor isn’t a coal locomotive. Uranium must be processed before it can be used as fuel. While Saskatchewan mines the raw material, Ontario reaps the economic rewards by refining and manufacturing Candu reactor fuel.

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Uranium crunch: the race to fuel the West’s nuclear energy revival – by Heidi Vella (Mining Technology – May 6, 2025)

https://www.mining-technology.com/

Amid Russian sanctions and China’s foothold over current uranium supply, how will the West secure the reserves it requires?

The devastating accident at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan in March 2011 triggered a global reassessment of nuclear power, radically reshaping and diminishing the industry, with reactors shut down and national bans brought in.

Yet, in what could be seen as an extreme volte-face, investment in the industry for the first time in many years is climbing. Driven in large part by decarbonisation targets meeting the reality of rising energy demand amid slow renewable energy roll out, the World Nuclear Association (WNA), perhaps unsurprisingly, is touting nuclear as the solution to securing future carbon-free electricity – but this time it is backed by financiers, countries and major companies such as Meta, Google and Amazon.

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Will uranium ever get its day in the sun? – by Mark Wembridge and Elouise Fowler (Australian Financial Review – April 27, 2025)

https://www.afr.com/

It was one of the hottest trades of last year. Now the commodity has a new claim to fame – it dominates the list of most-shorted stocks on the ASX.

Uranium, one of the hottest trades of last year, has a new claim to fame, an unwanted one. Companies exploring or mining the commodity make up six of the 20-most-shorted stocks on the local bourse.

It is a big change from the bull market of 2023 and 2024, when demand for a new, emissions-free fuel source buoyed expectations that local uranium stocks would be big winners from the end of coal and gas generation. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton made nuclear the centrepiece of his energy policy; countries around the world scrambled to build new plants.

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Uranium Spotlight: Eight companies on the radar – by Staff (Northern Miner – April 28, 2025)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Rising electricity demand from new AI-driven technologies and government support for nuclear power as a base load energy source are ramping up interest in uranium. After years of underinvestment, exploration and development companies are racing to find new sources of the nuclear fuel, and put them into production. Below is a list of eight interesting uranium plays to watch.

Anfield Energy

Anfield Energy owns the Shootaring Canyon mill in southeastern Utah, one of only three licensed and permitted conventional uranium mills in the United States. The company’s portfolio of uranium and vanadium projects stretches across Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.

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