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| July 21, 2008 |
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 | Cover: Second Quarter Spot U3O8 Review |  |  | Florida PSC approves Progress Energy proposal for new reactors in Levy County | | | Illinois legislature forms task force to examine possibility of expanding nuclear power | | | Poll finds that half of California residents support the construction of new reactors | | | Fate of India’s government uncertain with confidence vote set for tomorrow | | | Eight groups express interest in Turkey’s first nuclear power plant | | | CEZ mulling investment in proposed new nuclear power plant in Russia | | | MWH gets contract to help with licensing for AREVA’s U.S. enrichment plant | | | ERA’s Ranger output drops 22% | | | Rio Tinto posts production gain at Rössing | | | Nufcor Uranium buys 620,532 pounds U3O8e | | | Paladin’s Langer Heinrich production slightly below 2ndquarter target | | | Energy Metals releases positive results from updated Bigrlyi scoping study | | | Mitsui signs accord to explore for uranium in Uzbekistan | | | Niger’s Tuareg rebels demand share of uranium earnings | | | ARMZ to set up uranium joint venture with AREVA | | | Berkeley Resources to develop ENUSA’s Spanish assets | |  | The Market | |
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UxC announces new report - The Ux Consulting Company (UxC) is pleased to announce the availability of a special report on
Nuclear Reactor Technology Assessments. This in-depth study provides nuclear reactor technology
assessments and overall evaluations of the major reactor designs currently available in the world.
The decision of which reactor design to pursue is an extremely important one and must be based on many
factors, such as the robustness of the technology, the constructability of the plant, the plant
economics - both initial and operating, the type of fuel used, the ability to license and regulate,
among a variety of other considerations.
Two reports on USEC enrichment -
In enrichment, a key question on many utilities' minds is the prospects for success of USEC's
American Centrifuge Program (ACP) and how this may shape the market and supply opportunities in the future.
To this end, UxC has just released two reports,
Commercial Viability of USEC, Inc. - 2008 Update and
The American Centrifuge: How Ready Is It? - 2008 Update
The ACP report, authored by Steve Turner, a UxC consultant and expert on the economics of
centrifuge technology, looks at the likely economics of the ACP based on an analysis of historical data,
including reliability, and factoring in advances that have been made to improve the prospects for commercial success.
UxC Nuclear Power & Fabrication Market Outlook Reports -
The Ux Consulting Company, LLC (UxC), the nuclear industry's leading source of consulting and information services
on the uranium, conversion and enrichment markets is pleased to introduce two new exciting products:
the Nuclear Power Outlook (NPO) and
Fabrication Market Outlook (FMO) report packages.
These in-depth reports complement UxC's other comprehensive nuclear fuel cycle information services,
such as the Ux Weekly, Uranium, Conversion & Enrichment Market Outlook reports, Uranium Suppliers Annual,
Policy Watch, and SpentFUEL/StoreFUEL.
Uranium Suppliers Annual - 2007
(The 2008 mid-year update is scheduled for late July.)
Sometimes referred to as "The Uranium Bible", the Uranium Suppliers Annual contains comprehensive data and
information on all of the world's uranium suppliers, including detailed sections on planned producers and
junior/exploration companies.
Whether you are a utility, producer, trader, or investor, the Uranium Suppliers Annual provides the
basis for understanding potential future developments surrounding the availability of supply, particularly
since uranium production has continued to be sub-par against a backdrop of growing demand. In light
of the increasing volatile nature of the uranium market, primary and potential suppliers are continuously
re-evaluating their properties and future production plans, as well as expanding exploration programs where
economically feasible.
UxC's Uranium Market Outlook (UMO) highlights recent developments and their impact on the market. -
The quarterly report, at 136 pages, covers key supply and demand developments as well as the
overall supply and demand situation, reviews spot and long-term contract activity over the
past three months, provides a near-term technical analysis along with detailed spot market
indicators, projects prices under different market scenarios with associated probabilities,
and examines key developments in the market through a topical essay.
This quarter's essay,
The Kazakh Phenomenon, examines the tremendous expansion of production in
Kazakhstan and the factors behind this expansion, planned growth in future production
and potential impediments to this growth, and Kazakhstan�s desire to get involved in
other areas of the fuel cycle as part of its expansion strategy.
Also included are a review of recent market activity and a look a current and prospective activity,
and a detailed listing of reactor and production developments that promise to shape the future market.
UxC's Enrichment Market Outlook (EMO) Covers a Dynamic and Key Segment of the Overall Nuclear Fuel Market. -
Enrichment developments not only are important for understanding the enrichment market, but are
also crucial for understanding the future progression of the uranium market.
Since uranium and enrichment are substitutes, increases in enrichment supply can
have a major impact on the future demand for uranium. This is especially the
case now as the optimal tails assay is around 0.13w/o, but the operating tails
assay of Western enrichment plants in some cases is almost double this.
The EMO also contains a topical essay. This quarter's essay, Russia's Changing Enrichment Industry,
looks at the history and development of Russia's enrichment industry, nuclear
industry reform in Russia, Russia's own centrifuge project and capacity expansion
plans, marketing approaches, and international initiatives including the international
enrichment center at Angarsk. The recently initialed Agreement for Cooperation
between the United States and Russia and the potential for expanded trade makes
understanding the Russian enrichment situation more critical than ever.
The motivation for our report series, The Changing Geopolitics of the Nuclear Fuel Market,
is to examine the dramatic shift that is taking place in the uranium market from the standpoint
of not only price and supply availability, but also in terms of geography and international political
considerations. Nuclear fuel demand is growing rapidly in the East as is supply in certain Eastern
countries, and this combines to change market dynamics and trade patterns, as well as impacting prices
and supply availability. Our report on Russia was released May 2006, our China report was released December 2006.
July 2007 will see the release of reports on India and Kazakhstan, with a report on Uzbekistan to be released later this year.
UxC's SpentFUEL and StoreFUEL -
UxC is not only expanding its geopolitical coverage of the market, but is also now covering more of the fuel cycle.
In June, UxC began to publish SpentFUEL and StoreFUEL, two newsletters dealing with the backend of the fuel cycle.
Check out our latest additions to the Classic Cover stories
and sample issues of the
Ux Weekly.
NYMEX Partners with Ux Consulting to Offer Uranium Futures Contracts
On April 13, UxC and NYMEX issued a joint press release
announcing the introduction of on and off-exchange traded uranium futures products on the CME Globex�
and NYMEX ClearPort� electronic platforms on May 6 for the May 7 trade date.
Additional Information
NYMEX has also provided several additional documents explaining the new contracts.
The first is a Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) sheet addressing common questions
and the second is a copy of the contract specifications.
For those new to futures contracts, NYMEX provides and interesting primers entitled:
A Practical Guide to Hedging,
A Guide to Energy Hedging, and
additional details on Futures.
UxC has provided further discussion on how futures contacts on the uranium market in
the April 16, 2007 and
May 7, 2007 cover stories in the Ux Weekly.
How are uranium prices determined?
This is one of the questions UxC is often asked. We have developed a brief
overview to discuss this question.
Notice:
The Ux U3O8 Price and other Ux price indicators
are developed by UxC through its long-standing collection and reporting
system and thus are deemed to be copyrighted. These price indicators are provided to
UxC's customers through the Ux Weekly publication and are made available on UxC's public
website solely at UxC's discretion.
They may not be reproduced or otherwise used without UxC's express permission.
The Ux Consulting Company, LLC (UxC) publishes world nuclear fuel
spot and term prices, The Ux Weekly, Market Outlook Reports, and provides
extensive consulting services on the front-end of the nuclear fuel cycle.
UxC handles all aspects of the fuel market including uranium (U3O8)
production, conversion (UF6) and enrichment (SWU & EUP) services,
contracting activities, procurement services, and price and production forecasting.
*Please note that Ux Price Indicators are updated on this public site weekly, but are delayed by up to 72 hours.
Price updates are made on the Subscriber Services
site on Monday evenings and an extensive version of UxC's News Headlines are updated daily.
Access to UxC's Subscriber Services site is restricted to current clients and subscribers of UxC services.
If you have any questions concerning
access to the subscriber site, please contact Eric Webb at .
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First Half 2008 Sales Revenue  (Jul 24, 2008) AREVA : AREVA reports 14.8% increase in sales revenue for first half of 2008. | | BHP Billiton Production Report For The Year Ended 30 June 2008 (Jul 23, 2008) BHP Billiton : BHP reports highest level of uranium production at Olympic Dam since acquisition of the mine from Western Mining Corporation. | | China's quake-hit province to build nuclear power station (Jul 23, 2008) Press Trust of India : Sichuan province to build nuclear plant on "sound geological structure." | | Hitachi, GE foray into mid-size nuclear reactors (Jul 23, 2008) Reuters : GE and Hitachi to begin focus on midsize nuclear reactors in Southeast Asian market. | | India's Singh Wins Parliament Vote on Nuclear Deal (Jul 22, 2008) Bloomberg : India's ruling coalition survives confidence vote in Parliament, paving the way for it to move forward with the nuclear deal. | | Indian vote clears way for US nuclear deal (Jul 22, 2008) Associated Press : India's government wins vote by a margin of 275 to 256. | | India parliament launches nuclear debate in vote that could break Government (Jul 21, 2008) Times Online : Indian parliament to vote tomorrow over fate of government. | | India plans to build eight 700-MW nuclear plants (Jul 21, 2008) Press Trust of India : Article discusses nuclear expansion plans in India. | | Czech CEZ says eyeing nuclear tender in Russia (Jul 18, 2008) Reuters : CEZ expresses interest in Kaliningrad plant investment. | | Mixed Picture for Nuclear Power in OECD Countries (Jul 17, 2008) International Atomic Energy Agency : IAEA issues press release on OECD update. |
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