Media - Uranium Industry Headlines

Below are news items that appeared in the Nuclear Market Review.

CEZ to Launch Tender for Temelin Expansion Partners
CEZ, the Czech Republic’s state-controlled utility, will launch a tender to select a potential strategic partner for expansion of its Temelin nuclear station.

CEZ, which is 70 percent state owned, has opened a multi-billion dollar tender to build two new units at Temelin, in the country’s largest procurement deal. CEZ had previously indicated it may look for a financial partner as well as some form of government guarantees for the new plant. A partnership is expected to be formed after a supplier contract for the new reactors is signed, which is expected in 2013.

“The initial market analyses show that it is possible to invite more than 10 energy companies, most of which are based in Europe, which either have already shown interest or may become interested in negotiations about such partnership,” CEZ said in a May 9 statement. Germany’s RWE AG has stated it has no plans to participate in the planned Temelin expansion project. [top]

Poland to Select Nuclear Plant Technology this Year
Poland will select the provider of the technology for its first nuclear power plant this year and plans to have the first reactor operating by 2023.

The process of choosing the nuclear technology reportedly has attracted the interest of US-Japanese group GE Hitachi, France’s AREVA, and US-based Westinghouse, a unit of Japan’s Toshiba.

In an attempt to reduce its dependence on coal-fired power generation and provide more electricity for its growing economy, Poland has ambitious goals to build a 3 GWe nuclear station and double the facility’s generation capacity by 2030. [top]

RWE to Apply for Biblis Plant D&D Project
German utility RWE will apply to Hesse state authorities in the coming months to dismantle and decommission the Biblis A and B nuclear plants, the first step in a process that is expected to take years.

“Preliminary assessments have shown that a break-up of the unit is preferable to safe enclosure,” RWE’s generation unit RWE Power stated today, adding it may take several years to get approval for the plan. The two PWRs at the Biblis station were shut down in August 2011.

RWE’s action may initiate similar plans for six other nuclear power sites, which are subject to Germany’s accelerated nuclear phaseout plan. [top]

Hollande Wins French Presidential Election
In a run-off election on May 6, French voters handed the presidency to Francois Hollande, the first Socialist president in nearly two decades, who reportedly favors easing France away from its dependence on nuclear energy.

Hollande narrowly defeated incumbent Republican Nicolas Sarkozy, a supporter of the country’s nuclear power program, which provides 75 percent of its electricity supply today.

While Hollande reportedly favors moving away from nuclear power, it remains uncertain whether he will carry out proposed large-scale cuts to the country’s nuclear generating capacity, including the closure of the country’s oldest nuclear power facility, the two-unit Fessenheim station, which he stated while campaigning for the presidency.

In January, the French Court of Audit concluded that investing in new nuclear generating capacity or any other form of energy would be too expensive and come online too late. Extending the operating lives of its existing commercial reactors would be the country’s best option, it said. [top]

Energy Northwest to Buy Re-enriched DOE Tails
Energy Northwest’s board voted on May 10, to invest US$711 million to purchase re-enriched uranium tails held by the US Department of Energy (DOE), in a deal that could provide the utility with nuclear fuel for future use in its Columbia Generating Station at a cost that is below today’s market price.

DOE is restricted to offering the depleted uranium from tails for enrichment only to federal entities, which limits the deal to the Bonneville Power Administration, which Energy Northwest is working with, and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The tails would be enriched at USEC Inc.’s uranium enrichment facility in Paducah, Kentucky, which would keep the plant operating for an additional year.

Energy Northwest would reportedly pay USEC $706 million for enrichment series, and pay DOE up to $5 million for handling tanks storing the uranium tails as UF6 and converting the uranium to a gaseous form for enrichment by USEC. Energy Northwest will also have financing and interest charges for the project, and has proposed charging TVA for some of the fuel it gains in the proposed deal.

The purchase is reportedly contingent on TVA’s agreement with the pilot project, which would reduce the risk to Energy Northwest, according to reports today. TVA operates seven commercial reactors. [top]

Denison Mines Posts Q1 Loss on Asset Writedown
Toronto-based Denison Mines Corp. this week reported a first quarter loss of US$52 million, or $0.14 per share, compared to a $7.1 million loss, or $0.02 per share, a year earlier.

This year’s first quarter loss was related to a $4 4 million writedown of its US assets and operations, which the company agreed to sell to Energy Fuels Inc. last month.

Uranium sales revenue for the first quarter was just over $22.7 million from the sale of 380,000 pounds U3O8 at an average price of $59.74 per pound. No vanadium was sold during the quarter.

Denison’s McClean Lake uranium mill in Canada remains on standy-by status. At the White Mesa mill in Utah, first quarter uranium production totaled 414,000 pounds U3O8, compared to 340,000 pounds in the same quarter last year. During the quarter, the mill processed Arizona 1 and Daneros ore, as compared to Colorado Plateau ore in 2011. At the end of the first quarter, 100,000 tons of conventional ore was stockpiled at the White Mesa mill, containing about 572,000 pounds U3O8 and nearly 1.9 million pounds V2O5. Denison also had approximately 526,000 pounds U3O8 contained in alternate feed material stockpiled at mill.

Denison expects its second quarter uranium production to total 277,000 pounds U3O8 from alternate feed sources. Uranium sales are forecasted at about 316,000 pounds U3O8 during the second quarter. [top]

US Uranium Production Falls Slightly in 2011
US uranium mines produced 4.1 million pounds U3O8 in 2011, which was only 3 percent less than production in 2010. However, total US uranium concentrate production fell 6 percent last year to 4 million pounds U3O8, according to the US Energy Information Administration’s Domestic Uranium Production Report, released on May 9.

Ten mines produced uranium during part or all of last year—five underground mines and five in-situ recovery (ISR) mining operations. US production of uranium concentrate was derived from six facilities—one mill (Denison Mines’ White Mesa Mill) and five ISR plants (the Crow Butte and Smith Ranch-Highland, operated by Cameco’s US subsidiary Power Resources Inc., Mesteña’s Alta Mesa project, Uranium Energy Corp.’s Hobson ISR Plant/La Palangana, and Uranium One’s Willow Creek Project).

Total shipments of uranium concentrate from US mill and ISR plants was 4 million pounds , which was 22 percent less than in 2010. US producers sold 2.9 million pounds U3O8 last year at a weighted average price of US$52.36 per pound U3O8.

At year-end 2011, there were five operating ISR plants in the USA, with a combined capacity of 10.8 million pounds U3O8 per year. In addition, Uranium Resources, Inc.’s Kingsville Dome and Rosita ISR projects in Texas were on standby with a total annual capacity of 2 million pounds U3O8. Presently, there are nine ISR plants planned in Colorado, New Mexico, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming, according to the EIA.

The full EIA report is available online at: http://www.eia.gov/uranium/production/annual/pdf/dupr.pdf. [top]

Uranium One Reports Lower Q1 Earnings, 18% Higher Production
Uranium One Inc. has reported net earnings of $4.5 million, with no per-share dividend, for its first quarter ended March 31, compared to $14 million, or $0.01 per share, in the same quarter last year.

During the first quarter, the company achieved attributable production of 2.8 million pounds U3O8--an 18 percent increase over the first quarter of 2011, from its mining assets in Kazakhstan and the USA. Uranium One’s  total attributable production forecast for 2012 and 2013 remains at 11.6 million and 12.5 million pounds U3O8, respectively. During 2012, the company expects its total cash cost per pound sold to remain at $19 per pound. [top]

UK Remains Focused on Energy Reforms
The UK government confirmed on May 9, that legislation to reform the electricity market, to encourage a significant investment needed to promote low-carbon energy such as wind farms and nuclear plants, would be sent to lawmakers within the next 12 months.

In the near future, the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Changes is expected to publish a draft bill for prelegislative review so that the bill can be approved during this parliamentary session. This legislation would be approved as law by 2013, so that the first low-carbon projects can be supported under its provisions in 2014.

The UK government is focused on increasing low-carbon power generation from offshore wind farms, nuclear power plants, and gas- and coal-fired plants fitted with carbon capture and storage equipment to meet European Union climate change goals. [top]

UEC Reports Resources for Anderson Project in Arizona
Texas-based Uranium Energy Corp. (UEC) has reported an independent NI 43-101 resource estimate for its Anderson Project in Arizona, which includes 15.5 million pounds U3O8 Indicated Resources and 2.5 million pounds U3O8  Inferred Resources in the project’s open-pit setting, and 1.5 million pounds U3O8 Indicated Resources and 9.5 million pounds Inferred Resources in the underground setting.

UEC is starting the permitting process at Anderson now with the collection of data for environmental baseline studies.

The Anderson Project covers 9,852 acres (15.4 square miles) and includes 459 contiguous, unpatented lode mining and placer claims and two Arizona State land sections. It is located in western Yavapai County, about 80 miles from UEC’s Workman Creek Project. The northern section of the Anderson Project area holds the open-pittable resource and the adjacent southern section holds the underground resource. [top]