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Uranium and Nuclear Power Industry

NWMO reveals concepts for Centre of Expertise in Ignace – by Clint Fleury (Northern Ontario Business – October 13, 2022)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

A $21-million Centre of Expertise will accompany deep geological repository for nuclear waste

IGNACE, Ont.— The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) has unveiled its newest project, a $21-million facility for scientists and experts to continue their research on nuclear waste management and a wide variety of disciplines.

The Centre of Expertise will be located in either Ignace or South Bruce, depending on which will of the two is selected as host community for the deep geological repository to house spent nuclear fuel.

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Radiation Victims Seek Expansion of 32-Year-Old Compensation Act – by Carolyn Campbell (Daily Yonder – October 11, 2022)

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Larry King crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair on the stone porch of his ancestral home in Church Rock, New Mexico. The Puerco River, which irrigates ranch land, is just beyond the fence. He breathes heavily, pushing his voice raspy. “I’m 65. I’m one of the younger, aging uranium miners who worked in the uranium mines. My lungs aren’t so good,” he says.

In addition to being a miner, his home borders the site of the largest radioactive spills in U.S history. In July 1979, a dam at the uranium mine broke, releasing over 94 million gallons of toxic waste into the river behind his house and into the fields and water table.

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As the Western world looks for ‘Western fuel,’ Canadian nuclear fuel firm is buying into Westinghouse Electric Co. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – October 12, 2022)

https://www.post-gazette.com/

As nuclear operators around the world forge plans to turn away from Russia, a Canadian nuclear fuel company, Cameco Corp., is buying into one of Russia’s nuclear industry’s main foils: Westinghouse Electric Co.

Westinghouse, a Cranberry-based nuclear engineering company, is changing hands again, four years after it was bought out of bankruptcy in 2018 by Canadian investment firm Brookfield Business Partners for $4.6 billion. Westinghouse will still be under the Brookfield umbrella when the newly announced deal closes, expected in the second half of next year.

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France Mulls New Uranium Plant to Cut West’s Reliance on Russia – by Francois de Beaupuy (Bloomberg News – October 7, 2022)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — French state-controlled uranium producer Orano SA is considering growing its capacity to enrich the radioactive ore into nuclear fuel by almost 50% as Western governments and utilities seek to reduce their reliance on Russia since its attack on Ukraine.

The war is “reviving the urgency” to raise Western uranium-enrichment capacity to avoid potential shortages, Orano said, according to a statement of France’s public debate committee. The cost of the capacity extension from 7.5 million to 11 million so-called separative work units at its plant in central France is estimated at 1.3 billion euros ($1.3 billion).

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Uranium stocks are having their moment. Wise investors will run for the hills – by David Olive (Toronto Star – September 15, 2022)

https://www.thestar.com/

Beware of the uranium bubble. Investor enthusiasm for uranium stocks has increased their value by about one-third in the past few weeks.

They’ve actually been on a tear for a year. The latest bump followed Japan’s announcement last month that it will reopen nuclear power plants that have been mothballed since the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant disaster.

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Uranium Risks Becoming the Next Critical Minerals Crisis – by David Fickling (Washington Post/Bloomberg – September 5, 2022)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

Faced with the most serious energy crisis since the 1970s, the world is turning back to one of the biggest beneficiaries of the 1973 oil embargo: nuclear power. That’s good news, but we should take care. This solution to 2022’s energy security problems risks creating its own energy security headache down the road.

That’s because uranium’s supply chain is as susceptible to geopolitical manipulation as those for natural gas, cobalt, and rare earths. If developed countries want to count on atomic energy as a reliable source of zero-carbon power in the 2030s and 2040s, they’re going to need to start locking down the mineral resources now.

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‘It’s shameful’: Critics slam Doug Ford’s plan to replace nuclear power with natural gas – by Rob Ferguson (Toronto Star – August 23, 2022)

https://www.thestar.com/

Ontario’s plan to replace electricity generation when an aging nuclear plant closes in 2025 has critics saying the province didn’t get the memo on the growing dangers of climate change. Of six new contracts announced by the province’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) on Tuesday, four are for power to be generated by burning natural gas, while the other two — for wind and energy storage — account for less than 10 per cent of the 764 megawatts under contract.

Energy Minister Todd Smith defended the procurement, made in the wake of last year’s IESO warning that phasing out gas-fired power plants before 2030 would result in rotating blackouts and higher electricity bills because alternate supply and transmission lines could not be built in time.

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Sask. projecting $1.04B surplus amid rising resource revenues – by Stefanie Davis and Brendan Ellis (CTV News Saskatchewan – August 23, 2022)

https://regina.ctvnews.ca/

Saskatchewan is projecting a $1.04 billion surplus for 2022-23, with a large bump from non-renewable resource revenues projected. That figure is a $1.51 billion improvement from budget forecasts, which projected a $463 million deficit for the year.

“A strong economy and higher resource prices have meant a significant improvement in the province’s finances. That means we can balance the budget, pay down debt and help Saskatchewan people with the rising cost of living,” Finance Minister Donna Harpauer said.

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‘It’s shameful’: Critics slam Doug Ford’s plan to replace nuclear power with natural gas – by Rob Ferguson (Toronto Star – August 24, 2022)

https://www.thestar.com/

Ontario’s plan to replace electricity generation when an aging nuclear plant closes in 2025 has critics saying the province didn’t get the memo on the growing dangers of climate change.

Of six new contracts announced by the province’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) on Tuesday, four are for power to be generated by burning natural gas, while the other two — for wind and energy storage — account for less than 10 per cent of the 764 megawatts under contract.

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OPINION: The next Land Back battleground will be north of Lake Superior, as Chiefs say no to nuclear waste on their traditional lands – by Tanya Talaga (Globe and Mail – August 11, 2022)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Standing up for Indigenous rights, in the face of various governments’ continued abdication of their commitments to treaties and international law, is a fight First Nations will never tire of.

Good thing, because the work is endless. From the militarized RCMP operations in Wet’suwet’en territory in B.C. (concerning the Coastal GasLink pipeline), to the 1492 Land Back Lane land defence in Caledonia, Ont. (a Six Nations-led effort), our peoples are both the original and present-day protectors of the land, consistently light years ahead of any climate-change movement. Sadly, our efforts to protect the environment are rarely recognized until it is too late.

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Niger government increases stake in Dasa uranium project (World Nuclear News – August 12, 2022)

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

SOMIDA will be 80%-owned by Global Atomic, with the government holding the remainder which includes the 10% of shares mandated for government ownership by Niger’s Mining Code.

The government will be obligated to contribute 10% of all capital and operating costs over the life of the mine. Moussa Souley has been appointed as SOMIDA’s managing director and Robert Parr as Dasa project director.

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Bidding war for Canadian uranium explorer UEX hots up – by Mariaan Webb (MiningWeekly.com – August 10, 2022)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

The bidding war for that has erupted for Canadian uranium exploration junior UEX is heating up, with Denison Mines improving its offer, leaving fellow-suitor Uranium Energy Company (UEC) disappointed with UEX delaying its shareholder vote. UEX shareholders would have voted on UEC’s bid on Tuesday, but the company’s board had moved that meeting to August 15, following Denison’s amended offer.

Denison has offered to acquire UEX for 0.32 shares for every UEX share held, representing an implied purchase price of C$0.51 a share. Denison states that the acquisition proposal represents a 7% premium to the price implied by the amended agreement between UEX and UEC, and a 9% premium to the 20-day volume weighted average price implied by the amended UEC agreement.

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Uranium developer Denison says Phoenix feasibility field test is fully permitted – by Vladimir Basov (Kitco News – August 8, 2022)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – Denison Mines (TSX: DML) announced today it has received a License to Possess, Use, Store and Transfer a Nuclear Substance from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission for the In-Situ Recovery Feasibility Field Test planned for the Phoenix uranium deposit at the company’s 95% owned Wheeler River project.

Denison Mines said that the receipt of this license, together with the previously announced approval from the Saskatchewan Minister of Environment, means that the Feasibility Field Test (FFT) is fully permitted to proceed as per the company’s plans.

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Germany argues over nuclear shutdown amid gas supply worries – by Geir Moulson (Associated Press – August 1, 2022)

https://apnews.com/

BERLIN (AP) — Rising concern over the impact of a potential Russian gas cutoff is fueling the debate in Germany over whether the country should switch off its last three nuclear power plants as planned at the end of this year.

The door to some kind of extension appeared to open a crack after the Economy Ministry in mid-July announced a new “stress test” on the security of electricity supplies. It’s supposed to take into account a tougher scenario than a previous test, concluded in May, that found supplies were assured.

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Cameco forecasts new jobs, production at Saskatchewan mines (CBC Saskatchewan – July 27, 2022)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/

Quarterly earnings report touts new contracts, more jobs at McArthur River/Key Lake facilities

Saskatchewan’s uranium giant is expecting to add more northern Saskatchewan jobs and more cash to its bottom line this year.

Saskatoon-based Cameco, one of the largest uranium producers in the world, has issued its second quarter earnings report. It shows the company brought in $84 million in net earnings over a three-month period. According to president and CEO Tim Gitzel, the market has been positive in 2022.

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