URANIUM FROM STRANGERS

Uranium Production Boost
Pamela Coyle, May 22, 2009 (Michigan Green)

"Demand for enriched uranium is escalating. Three facilities in the works will help fill a gap that will hit in 2013, when [a 1995] agreement with Russia to supply [bomb-grade uranium from dismantled Russian warheads for about 40 percent of enrichment uranium] for U.S. nuclear power plants expires.

"The nation's existing fleet of 104 reactors [and any of the 27 new facilities applied for with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that come online] must line up their supplies [of uranium] well in advance…Centrifuge technology will anchor all three facilities…The technology is said to be a modern way to enrich uranium…European plants have long used [it]…The only current domestic source of enriched uranium is from a USEC subsidiary in Paducah, Ky., that uses older and energy-gobbling gaseous diffusion technology."

Energy expert Amory Lovins believes nuclear is already too expensive to be practical...(click to enlarge)

"Louisiana Energy Services' $3 billion facility…is expected to start commercial production by the end of 2009. USEC's $3.5 billion facility, the American Centrifuge Plant, will run its first tests this summer as a demonstration project and bring some product to market by the end of this year. In December, Paris-based Areva filed its application for a $3.5 billion enrichment plant [with its first phase set for 2014]...

"Capacity is a big issue…All three plants under development are modular and can expand while online. USEC will turn out 3.8 million "work units" at initial capacity. But it studied the possibility of seven million annually…"

...and the new technologies won't make it more affordable. (click to enlarge)

"Applications from both Areva and USEC for $2 billion in loan guarantees from the U.S. Department of Energy could impact project time lines. Tight credit -- plus the market's historic reluctance to back nuclear projects -- makes access to capital critical. USEC said it should receive priority because it is the only wholly owned U.S. enrichment facility. It also is a better play for better energy security as well as national security and uses more advanced technology…Areva said market conditions justify its application, citing technology with a proven track record and known economics…

"Centrifuge technology is new for the United States, but third-generation technology is already on the way…The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a license for [building a test loop last year…[I]f the global communities shift to low-carbon generation forms that include using more nuclear power, then the demand for uranium will spike. That's what some companies are banking on…"

Schematic centrifuge technology. The rotating cylinder forces the heavier U-238 atoms to the outside, leaving the lighter U-235 atoms in the middle, separating the enriched and depleted streams to be piped on. (From the the European Nuclear Society. Click to enlarge.)