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| May 12, 2008 |
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 | Cover: Just the Facts, Ma’am |  |  | U.S. and Russia Sign Nuclear Cooperation Agreement | | | Georgia Power reveals its share of costs for new AP1000 reactors at Vogtle NPP | | | AREVA selects Idaho location for planned U.S. centrifuge enrichment plant | | | CBO issues nuclear energy analysis | | | EDF makes offer for British Energy | | | France to set up France Nuclear International to promote nuclear power worldwide | | | Pre-feasibility study completed for Chirundu uranium project in Zambia | | | Drilling results reported for Daneros deposit in Utah | | | U3O8 Corp. announces additional drilling results from Aricheng South in Guyana | |  | 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 May.)
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 133 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,
Uranium Futures Contracting in Theory and Practice, looks at the emergence of
a futures contract in uranium and discusses the fundamentals of futures contracting,
hedging, development of a forward price curve, specifics of the new NYMEX/Ux contract,
the development of other uranium derivatives (forwards and options), and market
implications of the developing derivatives market.
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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| British Energy not to be sold to one bidder (May 11, 2008) Daily Telegraph : UK government reportedly prefers to sell six nuclear sites to one bidder and allow another bidder to acquire remaining two British Energy nuclear sites. | | Cross-channel row over control of British Energy (May 11, 2008) Daily Telegraph : Suez fears that a takeover of British Energy by EDF could threaten its chances to enter UK nuclear power sector. | | French swoop for British Energy (May 9, 2008) BBC News : Today is deadline for companies to submit offers for British Energy. | | Centrica joins with EDF in British Energy deal (May 9, 2008) London Times : UK firm Centrica and EDF looking to mount joint bid for British Energy. | | Georgia Power to pay $6.4 billion for new nuclear reactors (May 7, 2008) Atlanta Journal-Constitution (free registration required) : Article discusses cost of two new AP1000 reactors for Vogtle plant. | | Cost slows nuclear plant drive (May 7, 2008) Chicago Tribune : Article discusses costs associated with new nuclear reactor construction. | | U.S., Russia Sign Pact On Nuclear Cooperation (May 7, 2008) Washington Post : Article discusses background over nuclear deal between U.S. and Russia. | | Russian uranium will be directly supplied to the United States (May 7, 2008) RIA Novosti : Under deal Tekhsnabexport to supply uranium produced from plutonium directly to plants in the U.S. | | Russia, US sign agreement on civilian nuclear cooperation (May 6, 2008) Associated Press : U.S. Ambassador to Russia William Burns and Rosatom head Sergei Kiriyenko sign nuclear cooperation agreement. | | Russia and USA sign inter-governmental agreement for cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy (May 6, 2008) Rosatom : Agreement will create legal basis for Russian and U.S. nuclear cooperation. |
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