Demand for Nuclear Power Fueling Drive for Uranium Mining

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Renewed concerns over global warming and record-high crude oil prices have left many policymakers rethinking their views on nuclear power plants. Nuclear power stations, unlike their coal-fired counterparts, do not release carbon dioxide, a leading culprit in global warming. As a result, there has been an increased demand for the mining of uranium, which is used for nuclear power. Major nuclear power initiatives include the construction of a 20,000-megawatt nuclear power plant in India by 2020; a shift in South Africa's electricity generation from coal to nuclear; the increasing demand in generation capacities of reactors in countries like the U.S., Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Spain and Switzerland; and the extension of life for existing nuclear power plants.

Many industrial nations, particularly Lithuania and France, which receive most of their electricity (80% and 78%, respectively) from nuclear generation, depend on imported uranium. Nuclear power makes up 46% of Sweden's consumption, 36% in Hungary, 30% in Germany and 20% in the U.S. The world's known recoverable uranium resources are found in Australia, Kazakhstan, Canada, Niger, Russia, Namibia and South Africa. Australia and Canada are the world's biggest producers and exporters of uranium, followed by Namibia, South Africa and Niger, with a combined contribution of 20% of the world's uranium production.

With the growth of the nuclear power industry, AREVA NP (Paris), a world leader in the design and construction of nuclear power plants, is increasing its spending in the mining of uranium. For more information, view April 11, 2008, article - NUCLEAR INDUSTRY BRIEFS. Through its subsidiary UraMin, AREVA NP, jointly owned by AREVA S.A. (EPA:CEI) (Paris) and Siemens (NYSE:SI) (Munich, Germany), is on its way to becoming Africa's leading uranium producer. With several exploration projects planned, UraMin is expected to spend more than $1.2 billion in the next three years to bring three of its advanced projects -- Trekkopje, Ryst Kuil and Bakouma -- online by 2011.

Construction will soon begin at the $750 million Trekkopje uranium mining complex in Namibia with an accompanying $150 million desalination plant. The mine is expected to be operational by the fourth quarter of 2009 and be the third-largest uranium mine in the country after Rio Tinto's (NYSE:RTP) (London) Rossing mine and Paladin Energy's (ASX:PDN) (Subiaco, Australia) Langer Heinrich mine. UraMin has selected SRK Consulting to conduct a feasibility study of its 74%-owned Ryst Kuil project in South Africa. UraMin expects to begin a feasibility study on its 90%-owned Bakouma project. The mines will feed AREVA's reactor programs in energy hungry Asian nations, especially India and China.

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