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Uranium and Nuclear Power Industry

Canada’s nuclear watchdog green-lights operation of aging Pickering reactors to 2026 – by Matthew McClearn (Globe and Mail – October 11, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canada’s nuclear safety regulator again extended a crucial permit for the country’s oldest nuclear power plant on Friday, allowing it to continue operating beyond its original design life.

On Friday the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission authorized its owner, Ontario Power Generation, to operate the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station for an additional two years, to Dec. 31, 2026. The extended permit applies only to its newest four reactors, Units 5 through 8, which are collectively known as Pickering B. Those reactors entered service between 1983 and 1986.

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Canada reviewing Paladin’s Fission Uranium takeover on national security grounds – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – October 2, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Paladin Energy’s (ASX: PDN) proposed takeover of Canadian explorer Fission Uranium (TSX: FCU) has hit a roadblock after receiving a notice from the Canadian government informing the company the deal is now the subject of a national security review.

The Australian miner entered in June into an agreement with Fission Uranium to acquire it for C$1.14 billion ($846m), as strong prices for the fuel used in nuclear reactors has lit fire under market consolidations and deals.

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U.S. Ramps Up Hunt for Uranium to End Reliance on Russia – by Ivan Penn and Rebecca F. Elliott (New York Times – September 2024)

https://www.nytimes.com/

Miners aim to meet a growing demand for emissions-free energy, though a failure to clean up old sites haunts the industry.

More than 1,400 feet below an Arizona pine forest, miners are blasting tunnels in search of a radioactive element that can be used to make electricity. Two states north, in central Wyoming, drillers have been digging well after well in the desert, where that element — uranium — is buried in layers of sandstone.

Uranium mines are ramping up across the West, spurred by rising demand for electricity and federal efforts to cut Russia out of the supply chain for U.S. nuclear fuel.

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Canada’s nuclear waste needs a forever home. Scientists may be close to finding one – by Marcus Gee (Globe and Mail – September 18, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canada’s Candu nuclear reactors have been running for more than half a century. Ontario, home to all but one of the active reactors, gets about 60 per cent of its electrical power from nuclear, which has the benefit of producing next to no greenhouse gases.

To help meet climate targets while fulfilling the province’s electricity needs, the provincial government has announced plans to spend billions refurbishing an aging nuclear plant at Pickering, east of Toronto. It is part of a worldwide trend. After stagnating for years over worries about cost and safety that followed accidents in Chornobyl and Fukushima, nuclear power is getting a fresh look.

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Canada’s nuclear waste needs a forever home. Scientists may be close to finding one – by Marcus Gee (Globe and Mail – September 18, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canada’s Candu nuclear reactors have been running for more than half a century. Ontario, home to all but one of the active reactors, gets about 60 per cent of its electrical power from nuclear, which has the benefit of producing next to no greenhouse gases.

To help meet climate targets while fulfilling the province’s electricity needs, the provincial government has announced plans to spend billions refurbishing an aging nuclear plant at Pickering, east of Toronto. It is part of a worldwide trend. After stagnating for years over worries about cost and safety that followed accidents in Chornobyl and Fukushima, nuclear power is getting a fresh look.

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Chinese investor steps in to block Paladin’s Fission buy – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – September 16, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Australia’s Paladin Energy (ASX: PDN) has hit a roadblock in its proposed acquisition of Canada’s Fission Uranium (TSX: FCU) after a Chinese investor in the takeover target opposed the tie-up.

The Western Australia-based miner revealed on Monday that CGN Mining Company, a subsidiary of China General Nuclear Power with a 11.26% stake in Fission, is opposing the tie-up. Paladin moved in June to buy the Canadian miner for C$1.14 billion ($845 million), contingent on at least two-thirds of Fission shareholders voting in favour of the transaction by Aug. 26.

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[Australia] Mirarr Traditional Owners criticise uranium miner ahead of final fight over Jabiluka – by David Prestipino (National Indigenous Times – September 16, 2024)

https://nit.com.au/

Mirarr Traditional Owners in the Northern Territory are disappointed at comments from Energy Resources Australia bosses they say undermine their cultural authority.

Criticism of the “disrespectful” comments in legal documents by ERA chief executive Brad Welsh and independent director Ken Wyatt comes as the company appeals the NT Government’s rejection in July of a 10-year-extension to its minerals licence over the uranium-rich land surrounded by Kakadu National Park.

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Port Radium and the atomic highway – John Sandlos (Canadian Mining Journal – September 11, 2024)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

Gilbert LaBine is one of the most celebrated heroes in Canada’s mining history. He began his career prospecting around Cobalt, the Porcupine and Kirkland Lake, but his success was limited. Everything changed, however, when LaBine found pitchblende near Great Bear Lake in 1930, a discovery that cemented his legend as a plucky explorer, willing to brave the harshest northern environments to strike paydirt.

LaBine created a company, Eldorado Mines, to develop extremely valuable radium mines at Cameron Bay (later re-named Port Radium). This first mining development in the Northwest Territories (NWT) created a huge amount of excitement within the government and the industry about the potential of mining north of the sixtieth parallel.

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World’s largest uranium miner warns Ukraine war makes it harder to supply west – by Harry Dempsey and Anastasia Stognei (Financial Times – September 10, 2024)

https://www.ft.com/

Pull towards Russia and China grows stronger, says boss of Kazatomprom

Kazatomprom’s chief executive has warned that Russia’s war on Ukraine is making it harder for the world’s largest uranium producer to keep supplying the west as the gravitational pull towards Moscow and Beijing grows stronger.

Meirzhan Yussupov, chief of the Kazakh state miner, said sanctions caused by the war had created obstacles to supplying western utilities. Kazakhstan produces 43 per cent of the world’s uranium, equivalent to the market share that the Opec cartel has over oil.

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Putin says Russia should consider restricting exports of uranium, titanium and nickel (Reuters – September 11, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

MOSCOW, Sept 11 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Moscow should consider limiting exports of uranium, titanium and nickel in retaliation for Western sanctions. Putin’s remarks to government ministers prompted a rise in nickel prices and drove shares in uranium mining firms higher.

In televised comments, he said such restrictions could also be introduced for other commodities, and noted that Russia was a major producer of natural gas, diamonds and gold.

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Katoro Gold expands into uranium exploration through Ontario acquisition – by Darren Parker (Mining Weekly – September 9, 2024)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

Aim-listed Katoro Gold has expanded into uranium exploration with the acquisition of the White Pine uranium project in Ontario, Canada. The acquisition was made through its subsidiary, Katoro Canada, which now holds a 100% interest in the project.White Pine covers an area of 8 036 ha and is located close to the Trans-Canada Highway, about 75 km southeast of the town of Dryden, in the Kenora district of north-west Ontario.

While the project is still in the early stages of exploration, public domain data has indicated the potential for significant uranium discovery at White Pine. Early results include highly anomalous uranium levels in lake sediments collected from the project area.

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‘We were expendable’: Downwinders from world’s 1st atomic test are on a mission to tell their story – by Suasn Montoya Bryan (Associated Press – August 25, 2024)

https://apnews.com/

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (AP) — It was the summer of 1945 when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Japan, killing thousands of people as waves of destructive energy obliterated two cites. It was a decisive move that helped bring about the end of World War II, but survivors and the generations that followed were left to grapple with sickness from radiation exposure.

At the time, U.S. President Harry Truman called it “the greatest scientific gamble in history,” saying the rain of ruin from the air would usher in a new concept of force and power. What he didn’t mention was that the federal government had already tested this new force on U.S. soil.

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World’s largest uranium producer slashes production target – by Harry Dempsey (Financial Times – August 23, 2024)

https://www.ft.com/

Move by Kazakh mining company Kazatomprom threatens to squeeze supplies of the radioactive fuel

Kazatomprom, the world’s largest uranium producer, has slashed its production target for 2025 due to project delays and sulphuric acid shortages, threatening to squeeze supplies of the radioactive fuel vital for nuclear power.

The Kazakh company, which generates a fifth of global uranium supply, cut its target for next year by 17 per cent to a range of 25,000 to 26,500 tonnes of yellowcake. The move is likely to put upward pressure on uranium prices, which have softened from a 16-year high above $100 per lb this year but remain at historically elevated levels above $80 per lb, according to UxC, a pricing data provider.

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Canada’s nuclear industry energized by successful refurbishment projects – by Sasha Istvan (MacDonald Laurier Institute – August 16, 2024)

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The recent success of Canadian nuclear power projects speaks volumes about the industry’s preparedness and competitiveness.

When you think about Canadian infrastructure projects, what are the first words that come to mind? Late and over budget.

Poor project management, regulatory hurdles, and market impacts make it nearly impossible to build any major project on time, and it’s a genuine surprise if something gets completed under budget. This doesn’t have to be the case: the Canadian nuclear industry is rewriting this narrative. Currently, two of Canada’s largest active infrastructure projects are in the nuclear sector – and they are on time and on budget.

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‘We don’t want your garbage’: Northern township in shock after hearing Ontario is sending it radioactive waste – by Aya Dufour (CBC News Sudbury – August 20, 2024)

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

Communities asking the province to halt its transport plan while it holds consultations

Residents of a small northern Ontario township 40 minutes west of Sudbury say they were blindsided by Ontario’s decision to transport radioactive waste from an abandoned mill 200 kilometres away to the tailing facilities in their community in the coming weeks.

Nairn and Hyman, with a total of about 300 residents, became aware of the province’s plan when work began on the back roads leading to the Agnew Lake Mine last month, after there hadn’t been much action on that property since the Ministry of Mines took over in the 1990s.

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