Skip to main content

Uranium Price to Peak Around $103 / Pound in 2008

By
That's according to The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics:

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics's March quarter Australian Commodities report, released yesterday, said despite a substantial increase in global uranium mine production this year, the spot uranium price was expected to keep appreciating, averaging more than $US94.20 ($A121.69) per pound in 2007, compared with $US85 now. "In 2008, the spot uranium price is forecast to increase by a further 10 per cent to average $US103 per pound," ABARE said.

...

However prices will start to decline after next year ABARE says, as the large amounts of money being spent on uranium exploration, both in Australia and around the world, begin to translate into new mine production.

Here's another take on uranium prices according to NEI's Marvin Fertel:
In the long run, "I think we're going to end up with a much better situation than we even had before," he said.
For more information on how uranium prices affect nuclear fuel costs check out pages 9 and 10 of NEI's Status and Outlook Report (pdf):
The price of uranium does not pose the kind of challenge for nuclear energy as fuel costs do for other sources of baseload generation. For example, 78 percent of the cost of generating electricity at a coal plant is the cost of the coal. At combined cycle gas plants, fuel is 94 percent of the production cost. At nuclear plants, fuel costs are only 26 percent of production costs. And only half of that nuclear fuel cost is the cost of uranium. Conversion, fabrication and enrichment are also part of the cost of fuel at a nuclear plant, as well as the contribution to the federal Nuclear Waste Fund.
All I can say is that I wish I were an investor in uranium about 4 years ago.
Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
The bright side of this matter is that it will renew interest in fuel recycling.

The price is over $200/kg. This is sort of a "magic number" in many ways, because it represents an impetus to develop the Japanese amidoxime resin technology for recovering uranium from seawater.

While commercialization of this technology would require sustained prices this high -I don't really think they will be so sustained - it is likely to increase research into the subject. This will make the technology available when it is really needed.

But the immediate short-term outcome of high prices will be a strengthening of the recycling positon, something I unabashedly support.

-NNadir
March 6, 2007 at 2:05 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Activists' Claims Distort Facts about Advanced Reactor Design

By
Below is from our rapid response team . Yesterday, regional anti-nuclear organizations asked federal nuclear energy regulators to launch an investigation into what it claims are “newly identified flaws” in Westinghouse’s advanced reactor design, the AP1000. During a teleconference releasing a report on the subject, participants urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to suspend license reviews of proposed AP1000 reactors. In its news release, even the groups making these allegations provide conflicting information on its findings. In one instance, the groups cite “dozens of corrosion holes” at reactor vessels and in another says that eight holes have been documented. In all cases, there is another containment mechanism that would provide a barrier to radiation release. Below, we examine why these claims are unwarranted and why the AP1000 design certification process should continue as designated by the NRC. Myth: In the AP1000 reactor design, the gap between the shield bu...
23 comments
Read more

Wednesday Update

By
From NEI’s Japan micro-site: NRC, Industry Concur on Many Post-Fukushima Actions Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues • There is a “great deal of alignment” between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the industry on initial steps to take at America’s nuclear energy facilities in response to the nuclear accident in Japan, Charles Pardee, the chief operating officer of Exelon Generation Co., said at an agency briefing today. The briefing gave stakeholders an opportunity to discuss staff recommendations for near-term actions the agency may take at U.S. facilities. PowerPoint slides from the meeting are on the NRC website. • The International Atomic Energy Agency board has approved a plan that calls for inspectors to evaluate reactor safety at nuclear energy facilities every three years. Governments may opt out of having their country’s facilities inspected. Also approved were plans to maintain a rapid response team of experts ready to assist facility operators recoverin...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nuclear Utility Moves Up in Credit Ratings, Bank is "Comfortable with Nuclear Strategy"

By
Some positive signs that nuclear utilities can continue to receive positive ratings even while they finance new nuclear plants for the first time in decades: Wells Fargo upgrades SCANA to Outperform from Market Perform Wells analyst says, "YTD, SCG shares have underperformed the Regulated Electrics (total return +2% vs. +9%). Shares trade at 11.3X our 10E EPS, a modest discount to the peer group median of 11.8X. We view the valuation as attractive given a comparatively constructive regulatory environment and potential for above-average long-term EPS growth prospects ... Comfortable with Nuclear Strategy. SCG plans to participate in the development of two regulated nuclear units at a cost of $6.3B, raising legitimate concerns regarding financing and construction. We have carefully considered the risks and are comfortable with SCG’s strategy based on a highly constructive political & regulatory environment, manageable financing needs stretched out over 10 years, strong partners...
Post a Comment
Read more