Uranium and Nuclear Power Industry

More uranium mining near the Grand Canyon? Might as well just poison our water now – by Carletta Tilousi (AZ Central.com – June 21, 2022)

June 22, 2022

https://www.azcentral.com/

Tribal leader Carletta Tilousi is a citizen of the Havasupai Tribe and sits on the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council.

The Pinyon Plain uranium mine sits fewer than 10 miles from Grand Canyon National Park on the ancestral homelands of my people, the Havasupai, the “people of the blue-green water.” As the guardians of the Grand Canyon, we are fighting to protect our sacred lands and waters against harm that federal and state agencies continue to permit.

The Biden administration has promised to prioritize environmental justice and listen to Indigenous voices. Yet it is considering moving forward with a uranium reserve program that would use taxpayer dollars to buy uranium from operations like the Pinyon Plain Mine.

Nuclear industry hopes to expand output with new reactors – by Jennifer McDermott (Associated Press/ABC News – June 21, 2022)

June 22, 2022

https://abcnews.go.com/

The trade association for U.S. nuclear plant operators says it hopes to nearly double their output over the next three decades

The U.S. nuclear industry is generating less electricity as reactors retire, but now plant operators are hoping to nearly double their output over the next three decades, according to the industry’s trade association.

The massive scaling-up envisioned by the utilities hangs on the functionality of a new type of nuclear reactor that’s far smaller than traditional reactors. About two dozen U.S. companies are developing advanced reactors, with some that could come online by the end of the decade if the technology succeeds and federal regulators approve.

‘We really want to find a long-term solution’: Canada inches toward permanent storage of radioactive waste – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – June 18, 2022)

June 21, 2022

https://financialpost.com/

Report suggests two Ontario communities have what it takes to store nuclear waste

Canada has moved one step closer to finding a permanent spot to store the millions of bundles of radioactive waste that have been generated in the nearly half-century since it started producing nuclear energy.

On Thursday, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), a Toronto-based non-profit created by Parliament that has been scouring the country for storage spots since 2010, released reports that detail why it believes two communities in Ontario could safely store radioactive nuclear waste for time immemorial.

Kazatomprom Marks 25 Years in Business: CEO Talks Achievements and Efforts to Establish Nuclear Fuel Cycle Facilities – by AIBARSHYN AKHMETKALI (The Astana Times – May 31, 2022)

June 1, 2022

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NUR-SULTAN – Kazatomprom national atomic company, the world’s largest uranium producer, celebrates 25 years that turned it into the world’s leader in both uranium mining and sales. To mark the date, Kazatomprom CEO Mazhit Sharipov spoke about the company’s key achievements, its efforts to establish nuclear fuel cycle production in Kazakhstan, and develop an environmentally friendly energy complex in an interview with The Astana Times.

Being the global leader in primary uranium production, Kazakhstan meets more than 45 percent of the world’s annual nuclear fuel needs with a quarter of the world’s supplies coming directly from Kazatomprom. Last year the company sold uranium products to 21 customers in eight countries.

Uranium’s price is ‘too low’ at $75; here’s where the price needs to go to incentivize mining – Amir Adnani (Kitco News – May 23, 2022)

May 25, 2022

https://www.kitco.com/

Adnani is CEO of Uranium Energy Corp and Chairman of GoldMining Inc. He spoke with David Lin, anchor and producer at Kitco News, at the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference. Adnani remarked that the Russia-Ukraine conflict would impact uranium markets. Russia is one of the world’s top uranium producers.

His comments come as the Uranium market saw some of the most volatile price movements in recent history, rising from $30 a pound last September to $50 in a span of two weeks, then hitting close to $65 a pound by April before falling back down to $47.8.

Why the Debate Over Russian Uranium Worries U.S. Tribal Nations – by Simon Romero (New York Times – May 2, 2022)

May 2, 2022

https://www.nytimes.com/

If imports end because of the war, American companies may look to increase domestic mining, which has a toxic history on Indigenous lands.

KAIBAB NATIONAL FOREST, Ariz. — After Russia invaded Ukraine in February, the United States slapped bans on Russian energy sources from oil to coal. But one critical Russian energy import was left alone: uranium, which the United States relies on to fuel more than 90 nuclear reactors around the country.

That dependence on Russia is breathing life into ambitions to resurrect the uranium industry around the American West — and also evoking fears of the industry’s toxic legacy of pollution.

California promised to close its last nuclear plant. Now Newsom is reconsidering – by Sammy Roth (Los Angeles Times – April 29, 2022)

April 29, 2022

https://www.latimes.com/

With the threat of power shortages looming and the climate crisis worsening, Gov. Gavin Newsom may attempt to delay the long-planned closure of California’s largest electricity source: the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant.

Newsom told the L.A. Times editorial board Thursday that the state would seek out a share of $6 billion in federal funds meant to rescue nuclear reactors facing closure, money the Biden administration announced this month. Diablo Canyon owner Pacific Gas & Electric is preparing to shutter the plant — which generated 6% of the state’s power last year — by 2025.

Angela Merkel’s nuclear folly fuelled Putin’s ambitions in Ukraine – by David Welch (Globe and Mail – April 28, 2022)

April 29, 2022

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

For every euro of military aid that Germany has given to Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s invasion, it has paid €200 for Russian energy imports. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called this “blood money.” Polish Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski recently declared it “inadmissible from a political and moral point of view.”

It is also tragic and unnecessary. For this, we can blame former German chancellor Angela Merkel. Germany finds itself in an awkward position because of its heavy dependence on Russian coal, oil, and natural gas.

Navajo residents affected by uranium share stories at U.S. Nuclear Commission (Navajo-Hope Observer – April 26, 2022)

April 27, 2022

https://www.nhonews.com/

CHURCH ROCK, N.M. — On April 22, Navajo uranium and contamination victims voiced concerns to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission over the devastating health and environmental impacts caused by federal uranium mining.

Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency Executive Director Valinda Shirley were on hand for the meeting along with U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Christopher T. Hanson, Commissioner Jeff Baran, and Commissioner David Wright who met at the Redwater Pond Road community, located within the Church Rock Chapter on the Navajo Nation.

Korea offers six reactors to Poland (World Nuclear News – April 25, 2022)

April 27, 2022

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/

Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) has submitted to Poland what the country called a “technical and price offer” for the construction of six APR-1400 reactors.

The KHNP delegation was led by CEO Jeong Jae-hoon with support from head of business development Yoosik Nam. Their offer provided for “the construction of six APR1400 reactors with a total capacity of 8.4 GW, the first of which could start operating in accordance with the schedule adopted in the Polish Nuclear Power Programme, i.e. in 2033,” said the Polish Ministry for Climate and Energy.

Why does Ottawa’s ‘Green Bond’ program exclude nuclear, one of the cleanest of all energy sources? – by Tim Armstrong (Toronto Star – April 23, 2022)

April 27, 2022

https://www.thestar.com/

So far, the federal government hasn’t explained why nuclear energy has been excluded from its recent ‘Green Bonds,’ loans to expand sources of clean energy in Canada

The federal budget, recognizing the urgent need to fight climate change, includes new, positive incentives for the development of clean energy.

But the nuclear energy leadership, labour, and management alike, raise serious questions as to the budget’s failure to remove the sector’s exclusion of the right to apply for funding under the government’s $5 billion Green Bond Framework (GBF).

Revival Of Nuclear Energy Will Spark Uranium Market – by Jon Markman (Forbes Magazine – April 11, 2022)

April 20, 2022

https://www.forbes.com/

War in Ukraine is causing an energy reset. Western governments are rethinking dependence on Russian oil and gas, and it is a big opportunity for investors.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced last week that Britain will begin developing small scale, modular nuclear power plants. The new energy path is a big win for uranium assets. It’s time for investors to consider buying Cameco Corp. (CME).

A man called ‘Gitty’: Saskatchewan CEO is a global nuclear power player – by Joe O’ Connor (Financial Post – April 14, 2022)

April 19, 2022

https://financialpost.com/

How did a guy who grew up playing road hockey in this prairie province end up being on the board of the World Nuclear Association? Joe O’Connor has the story

Tim Leier’s phone lit up at 6:19 a.m. on April 1. It was “Gitty” texting him from the Prague airport to let him know he would do his best to get to Leier’s cottage on Emma Lake north of Saskatoon the following evening.

They had been planning a get-together of old hockey buddies who have been running around as a pack ever since they met at North Battleford Comprehensive High School 45 years go.

FINAL RESTING PLACE: Finland is set to open the world’s first permanent repository for high-level nuclear waste. How did it succeed when other countries stumbled? – by Sedeer El-Showk (Science.org – February 24, 2022)

April 4, 2022

https://www.science.org/

After passing through a security gate, the van descends into a tunnel that burrows under the forests of Olkiluoto, an island off Finland’s west coast. The wheels crunch on crushed stone as a gray, wet October day gives way to darkness.

“Welcome to Onkalo,” deadpans Antti Mustonen, a geologist here. Onkalo—“cavity” or “pit” in Finnish—will be the world’s first permanent disposal site for high-level nuclear waste, and a triumph for Finland.

World looks to Canada to fill potash, uranium void left by Ukraine – by Robert Tuttle, Jen Skerritt and Joe Deaux (Bloomberg News – March 24, 2022)

March 30, 2022

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Buyers scrambling for supplies of potash and uranium are looking to Canada to fill gaps caused by the war in Ukraine.

The northern nation has been approached by those seeking potash and uranium, said Canada’s Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson. The country is one of the world’s main sources of the two commodities and buyers are anxious to secure supplies after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted trade flows.