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Uranium and Nuclear Power Industry

Cameco may cut uranium output further as demand stalls – by Geert De Clercq (Reuters U.K. – September 5, 2019)

https://uk.reuters.com/

LONDON, Sept 5 (Reuters) – Canadian miner Cameco said it will hold down output until uranium prices recover and it could cut production further, although nuclear reactor life extensions in France and newbuilds in China, the UAE and Britain bring some hope.

Since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan, Germany and other countries have closed dozens of reactors, which has depressed demand for nuclear fuel and forced miners to close or mothball mines as uranium prices plunged.

From a $140/pound high in 2007 and about $70 just before Fukushima, uranium fell to a low of $18/lb in 2016 and has since recovered slightly to $25 today as miners cut output.

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France’s Orano to develop uranium mining projects in Uzbekistan (The Times of Central Asia – September 5, 2019)

https://www.timesca.com/

TASHKENT (TCA) — Major nuclear fuel cycle company Orano has signed a partnership agreement with the Uzbek State, represented by the State Committee for Geology and Mineral Resources (GoscomGeology) to develop mining exploration and operations activities in Uzbekistan, the French company said on September 4.

The two partners have decided to create a joint venture which will be established in few months, with 51% held by Orano and 49% held by GoscomGeology.

This agreement formalizes the desire of both parties to work together on uranium mining projects in Uzbekistan, in particular in the Navoi region in a desert area at the heart of the uranium-rich province of Kyzylkum.

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OGLALA SIOUX TRIBE ‘FIGHTING BACK’ TO PROTECT BLACK HILLS FROM URANIUM MINE – by Talli Nauman (Native Sun News – August 29, 2019)

https://intercontinentalcry.org/

Rapid City – With the Oglala Sioux Tribe set to argue Aug. 28-30 for its kind of protection of cultural resources from unprecedented uranium mining in the southern Black Hills, the tribal government and local groups urged members of the public to attend proceedings here and participate in a simultaneous outdoor cultural event to raise awareness about the issue.

A panel of administrative judges from the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) is supposed to be in town on these dates to hear from the tribe, the commission staff and intervenors in the case, which is focusing on the “reasonableness” of their divergent approaches to surveying tribal cultural, religious, and historical properties at the proposed 10,000-acre Dewey-Burdock in situ leach mine and mill.

“NRC staff is attempting to escape its obligation to consider cultural resources at the site, saying it is so expensive and they shouldn’t have to do a cultural survey,” the tribe’s lawyer Jeffrey Parsons told the Native Sun News Today. “The tribe is fighting back.”

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Russia Spreads Influence in Africa Using Nuclear Power – Reports (Moscow Times – August 29, 2019)

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/

Russia is working to win influence in at least 10 African states with high-cost nuclear technology that for the most part does not suit their needs, researchers and NGOs have told The Guardian newspaper.

With booming exports, nuclear energy is one example of Russia’s increasing presence in Africa in recent years. Elsewhere, a businessman known as “Putin’s chef,” Yevgeny Prigozhin, is widely reported to be spearheading Russia’s push to exchange security and electioneering services for mining rights in Africa.

Russia’s state nuclear agency Rosatom has approached the leaders of “dozens” of African countries with various nuclear energy projects in the past two years, The Guardian reported Wednesday. Rosatom has existing deals with Egypt and Nigeria and other various agreements with other countries on the continent.

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Exclusive: Japanese utilities start selling uranium fuel into depressed market – by Aaron Sheldrick and Yuri Harada (Reuters U.S. – August 23, 2019)

https://www.reuters.com/

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s nuclear operators are starting to sell some of their huge holdings of uranium fuel, as chances fade of restarting many more reactors eight years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

The sales so far have been small, but were made at values well below their purchase price and are likely to further depress the already beaten-down uranium market, say two senior market specialists.

They could also focus attention on the balance sheets of the country’s utilities, bolstered by holdings of nuclear fuel valued at 2.5 trillion yen ($24 billion), a figure that market experts say is highly unrealistic.

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Small modular nuclear reactors and Southern Utah nuclear history at odds – by Lisa Rutherford (The Spectrum – August 25, 2019)

https://www.thespectrum.com/

During my nearly twenty years as a Southern Utah resident, much has been published about “downwinder” citizens in this area. “Downwinders” are those who have dealt with illness, including cancer, related to nuclear testing in nearby Nevada. Nearly fifty years of testing and 200 tests left a sad legacy. Southern Utah is not the only nuclear victim. Uranium mining in other Utah areas has left pollution resulting in more illness.

So, it’s ironic that now there is an effort on the part of the Utah Associated Municipal Power System (UAMPS) to encourage local communities to purchase nuclear energy from a system that uses small modular nuclear reactors (SMNR). UAMPS, in coordination with a Portland, Oregon company, NuScale Power LLC, plans to site an SMNR at a Department of Energy (DOE) site in Idaho.

The SMNRs may be small but they still create nuclear waste — waste that has been rejected generally by Utah’s residents who don’t want Utah to become a dumping ground. Southern Utah town/cities that purchase nuclear energy will put Utah on the hook for the waste generated, setting a precedent for others to bring more waste to our state — hazardous waste that will remain hazardous to our state’s children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and beyond.

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4 Investigates: Abandoned uranium mines continue to threaten the Navajo Nation – by Colton Shone (KOB.com – August 19, 2019)

https://www.kob.com/

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — There are hundreds of abandoned uranium mines scattered across the Navajo Nation.

The clean-up process has been slow for those who live right in the heart of them. For many, it’s been a decades-long fight for the removal of “hot dirt” and there’s still no real end in sight. Red Water Pond Road Community Association is home for Edith Hood. She and her family have lived there, a few miles east of Gallup, for generations.

“We had a medicine man living across the way,” she said. It’s a remote village on Navajo land surrounded by beauty and radioactive waste. There is tons of “hot dirt” left behind from the nearby abandoned Northeast Churchrock Uranium Mine and the abandoned Kerr-Mcgee Uranium Mine Complex.

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Increased uranium mining proposal carries environmental concerns – by Calvin Cutler (News Center1.tv – August 13, 2019)

News  Center1 TV

OSHOTO, WYO. — A uranium mining company is looking to shift operations at their mine north of Moorecroft, Wyoming. Strata Energy, the US subsidiary of Australian Peninsula Energy is looking to ramp up operations at the Lance Projects.Strata hopes to bolster domestic uranium production.

The Lance Projects lie in Crook County. Inside the area are the Ross, Barber, and Kendrick projects. At the Ross Project, Strata Energy is in the process of testing a different type of uranium mining.

In Situ uranium mining allows companies to extract the product from the ground without digging an open pit. Strata recently shut down their alkaline leaching mines, and are focusing on their experimental acid leaching operation. They’re currently in the process of demonstrating to the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality that they can effectively conduct operations at the site without effecting the groundwater.

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COLUMN-Australia will investigate using nuclear power. Why bother? – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – August 5, 2019)

https://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Aug 5 (Reuters) – If another sign was needed that Australia’s energy policy is dysfunctional, the government provided it in the form of launching a parliamentary inquiry to consider nuclear power.

Energy Minister Angus Taylor last week requested a parliamentary committee examine requirements for developing a nuclear power industry in Australia.

The country currently has a moratorium on nuclear power and has no reactors, other than a small unit used for medical purposes located near the main city of Sydney. However, Australia is the world’s third-largest miner of uranium, accounting for about 10% of global output of the nuclear fuel.

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The US is losing the nuclear energy export race to China and Russia. Here’s the Trump team’s plan to turn the tide – by Tom DiChristopher (CNBC.com – March 21, 2019)

https://www.cnbc.com/

The Trump administration is preparing a new push to help American companies compete in the race to build the next generation of nuclear power plants around the world — a competition the U.S. is currently losing.

In doing so, the administration also aims to push back on the growing dominance of Russia and China in the space, preventing them from expanding their international influence by forging long-lasting nuclear ties with foreign powers.

The State Department plans to expand cooperation with countries pursuing atomic energy long before those nations ever purchase a nuclear reactor. By facilitating early stage talks, the U.S. intends to put American companies first in line to build tomorrow’s fleet of nuclear power plants overseas.

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Washington continues critical inquiries into rare earths and uranium supply chains – by Greg Klein (Resource Clips – July 15, 2019)

http://resourceclips.com/

While somewhat relaxing its concern about uranium, the U.S. appears increasingly worried about rare earths supply. A Reuters exclusive says Washington has begun an inventory to itemize domestic RE projects.

“The Pentagon wants miners to describe plans to develop U.S. rare earths mines and processing facilities, and asked manufacturers to detail their needs for the minerals, according to the document, which is dated June 27,” the news agency reported.

“Responses are required by July 31, a short time frame that underscores the Pentagon’s urgency.” The request mentions the possibility of investment by the military, Reuters added.

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Saskatoon: Cameco encouraged as Trump ends fears of uranium import restrictions – by Chelsea Laskowski (CBC News Saskatoon – July 15, 2019)

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

In a memorandum late Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump rejected restrictions on foreign uranium imports

Saskatoon-based uranium mining company Cameco is breathing a sigh of relief after U.S. President Donald Trump declined to put restrictions on uranium imports from other countries in a memorandum sent Friday.

“I wouldn’t say it was a surprise, but we were certainly pleased,” said Jeff Hryhoriw, director of government relations and communications with Cameco.

Uranium producers in Canada had been watching the U.S. closely for the past year as that country’s Commerce Department started investigating whether restrictions on uranium imports were necessary to maintain national security.

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U.S. uranium miners say ready to ramp up if Trump approves quotas – by Valerie Volcovici (Reuters U.S. – July 11, 2019)

https://www.reuters.com/

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two leading U.S. uranium mining companies say they are prepared to quickly ramp up production if President Donald Trump approves their request for curbs on imports this week.

Trump is expected to decide as soon as Friday on the petitions from Colorado-based Energy Fuels Inc (UUUU.A) and Wyoming-based Ur-Energy Inc (URG.A) – which seek quotas requiring 25% of the U.S. uranium market be sourced domestically – after reviewing recommendations from the Commerce Department in April.

Two sources familiar with the matter said the White House was weighing three options, including taking no action, delaying a decision for six months, and requiring utilities to purchase 5% of their uranium from domestic mines each year – rising 5 points per year until it reaches 25%.

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Editorial: Global geopolitics sideswipe African uranium miners – by John Cumming (Northern Miner – June 18, 2019)

Northern Miner

The global uranium mining market in the 2010s took a hit from the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011 — which cut global uranium demand some 10% for many years — and the simultaneous ramping up of low-cost uranium production out of Kazakhstan that has transformed the country into the world’s largest uranium producer.

Thanks to the massive devaluation of the Kazakhstan tenge currency in 2014 and 2015, the country is also easily the lowest-cost producer in the world, with its in-situ recovery mines operated by Kazatomprom and Uranium One dominating the first two quartiles of uranium mining costs globally in 2018.

With Kremlin-backed Russian interests heavily influencing Kazatomprom and Uranium One, and the Russian government striking numerous nuclear-energy cooperation deals in developing countries across the globe, it couldn’t be clearer that the global nuclear fuel cycle is increasingly controlled by Russia, with all its geopolitical implications for the rest of this century.

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Four Corners Could See Uranium Mining Revival This Summer – by Nate Hegyi (KUER.org – June 25, 2019)

https://www.kuer.org/

The Trump administration may soon push for more uranium mining in the Colorado Plateau, arguing the mineral is critical for national security. The potential move prompted criticism from Democrats during a hearing of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources on Tuesday.

“Arbitrarily classifying uranium as a critical mineral and declaring it a matter of national security is just a way for the Trump administration to speed up new mine permitting and prop up the declining uranium mining industry,” said subcommittee chairman Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.).

In 2017, 93% of the uranium used by U.S. nuclear reactors was imported from foreign countries. In 2018, the U.S. Interior Department listed the mineral as one of 35 commodities that were deemed essential for the economic and national safety of the U.S.

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