THE AUSTRALIAN WORKERS UNION - AWU PUSHES FOR NEW WILDERNESS URANIUM MINE

This is Mt Gee on the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary in the northern Flinders Ranges.

The AWU, Australian Workers Union is keen that Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary in the Flinders Ranges be opened up to mining.

The union has made one of about 450 submissions to the South Australian Government on a management plan for the area.

It was developed after exploration company Marathon Resources was caught out for illegally dumping exploration waste in the area in 2007.

In its submission, union official Paul Howes says Arkaroola has Australia's fifth-largest undeveloped uranium deposit.

He says companies that are able to mine responsibly and sustainably should be allowed to do so, as mining at Arkaroola would create more investment and jobs in South Australia.

SA Greens MP Mark Parnell wants the Government to opt for a complete mining ban.

"Really it is one of the jewels in our crown and mining companies have no place there," he said.

Conservation groups, tourism operators and local government have put submissions urging against mining in the wilderness zone.

SA Liberal Senator Nick Minchin has long been an opponent of any mining at Arkaroola, saying it would destroy the sanctuary.

"I think it'll actually do enormous damage to the reputation of the mining industry in South Australia if there is any attempt to create a mine at one of the most precious and natural and magnificent sites that we have in the whole of Australia," he said.

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URANIUM GIANT CAMECO STRIKES EXPLORATION DEAL WITH RED METALS LIMITED -RDM

Announcement 13 May 2010
Red Metal (ASX: RDM) has struck a farm-in and an agreement with Cameco, one of the world's largest uranium miners.

The deal, with Cameco Australia, is over Red Metal's Lakes uranium project in the highly prospective Frome Sub-Basin of South Australia.

Cameco will gain an exclusive right over a six-year period to explore for uranium and earn a 51% interest in any or all of the four Red Metal Lakes Project tenements.

Cameco is required to sole fund AUD$4 million of expenditure and should it elect to earn a 51% interest in all four tenements, it would be required to contribute AUD$16 million.

The joint venture ensures a work program with a minimum total project annual commitment of $700,000 on exploration in the first year and $500,000 in subsequent years.

Once Cameco has earned 51%, Red Metal can elect to contribute to further exploration and development at a 49% interest or reduce to a 30% interest free-carried to a decision to mine.

Exploration on the Lakes project targets giant sandstone-hosted, roll-front type uranium plays hosted in the same Tertiary sedimentary sequences that host the nearby Beverley and Four Mile uranium deposits.

An extensive regional drill program completed last field season identified previously unrecognised thick, oxidised sand sequences in the prospective Eyre and Namba Formations at several locations as well as some anomalous uranium in reduced channel sands.

The anomalous uranium and oxidised sequences are considered significant as they indicate oxidising and potential uranium-bearing fluids may have passed through the rocks and deposited uranium mineralisation further down flow.

Cameco brings significant uranium exploration and development experience to the project.

Red Metal’s strategy of targeting giant ore deposits in many of Australia’s fertile terrains continues to attract major mining companies like Cameco as partners on attractive joint venture terms.

KEPCO IN TALKS TO BUY AUSTRALIAN URANIUM ASSETTS THIS YEAR - 2010

Korea Electric Power Corp., South Korea’s biggest electricity provider, is in talks to buy Australian uranium assets this year to meet demand for the nuclear fuel, an executive said.

“We’re talking with some Australian companies, so I think we can get a result this year,” Chung Jae Wan, general manager of the energy resources team at the utility known as Kepco, said in an interview today. Kepco is open to buying a stake in a project or a company, he said.

South Korean uranium demand is expected to double to 8,000 metric tons a year by 2020 because of increased construction of nuclear power plants, Chung told a conference earlier in Perth. South Korea, which imports about 97 percent of its energy requirements, plans to add eight atomic plants by 2016.

Kepco wants to buy mines that are in the construction stage, and isn’t interested in companies that only have exploration projects, Chung said. The Seoul-based utility is now progressing toward its goal.

“Given the uranium price, operating costs need to be reasonable,” he said. “If they’re too high, it cannot be developed into a mine. We need to be very cautious. We need some projects with reasonable operating costs which can be developed into mines under the current uranium price.”

Spot-market uranium prices fell 6.7 percent between the start of this year and early May on reduced purchases from China and concerns about U.S. Department of Energy plans to cut uranium inventories.

Resources Tax

In remarks to the conference, Chung said Kepco is “taking steps” to increase its holdings in uranium resources. “We will need one or two investments in uranium mines every year,” he said. Kepco is keen to buy stakes in uranium mines in Africa, Mongolia, Australia and Europe, the company said in March.

South Korea currently operates 20 nuclear power plants and had imported its uranium mainly from Canada, Australia and Kazakhstan until Kepco invested in overseas mines last year.

Australia’s proposed tax on resource company earnings won’t have a bearing on the South Korean company’s potential investment because Kepco is focused on uranium security more than the profitability of any purchased asset, Chung said.

“Kepco is a very big company,” Chung said. “We don’t have any limits in our investments. It depends on how attractive the investment is to Kepco.”

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HOW THE NEW AUSTRALIAN MINING TAX WORKS

HOW DOES IT WORK?

A mining company will need to calculate how much profit it makes from each of its Australian operations and declare that to the tax authorities. The profit is to be calculated as close to the ground as possible: that is, at the mine gate. But the details on this have yet to be hammered out, leaving wide scope for mining companies to agree on a more flexible approach.

For example, a miner with two adjacent operations may push for both mines to be included in one profit calculation for the tax authorities, if it felt this would lead to a lower tax bill.

These profit calculations are purely for the tax authorities and are not the group accounts drafted for investors, but they won't be entirely new arithmetic for global miners. South Africa and Canada and the U.S. mining state of Nevada already require them to produce accounts for profits-based taxes.




IS IT ALL PAIN & NO GAIN?

The Australian government knows there are very few votes to be lost from taxing rich miners that hire fewer workers per dollar of profit than many other sectors of the economy. But Canberra is still dangling some carrots for the mining industry in the form of a tax allowance and an exploration tax rebate.

The allowance represents an amount of profit that is exempt from the new tax. In principle, it is the government's estimate of a fair rate of return on mining assets.

Utilities world-wide understand this concept well because their returns on assets are routinely regulated in order to prevent them from unjustifiable increases in power bills.

For miners, there is a lot to play for here: the government wants untaxed returns on assets to be set at a rate equivalent to the 10-year government bond yield AU10YT=RR, now just 5.76 percent. But, if the miners lose their war against the tax, they could win a decisive battle by raising the tax-free return rate.


GIVE ME AN EXAMPLE

Say, a mine (not a miner) has assets worth A$100 million. Using the current bond yield, the company may deduct $5.76 million from its calculation of the mine's profit.

"Using a rate higher than the government bond rate would result in a significant subsidy to the resource sector...," the government said. Expect the miners to lobby for exactly that.


THE EXPLORATION FREEBIE

The government is also offering a tax rebate on exploration costs, which will be set initially at 30 percent. That means for every dollar spent on exploration, 30 cents will be available for miners as a tax credit. The industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars every year on exploration in Australia.

And when mines are wound up, the owners can crystallise any leftover tax credits accumulated during the mine's life.


OUTBACK ACCOUNTING

Mines can be an auditor's nightmare: in Australia, they are scattered over the desert, thousands of km (miles) from any place where people go to work in suits. So auditing of a mine's assets could be trickier to confirm than a utility's balance sheet.

The new tax calculations will be kinder to mines with lots of assets and conservative accounting for expenses, so tax officials will be on the lookout for any clever accounting. Armed with sophisticated data-matching systems, they will compare public accounts against the figures produced for tax purposes.

More than ever before, tax officials will keep an eagle eye on the outback.

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KYRGYZSTAN - PROSPECTIVE ONE DAY POISON THE NEXT

• April 08, 2010 9:35AM

SHAREHOLDERS in a clutch of junior explorers will today be watching events in the central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan with great interest - or, possibly, with trepidation.

There has been severe political unrest in the capital, Bishkek, overnight with conflicting reports as to whether the government is still controlling the country. Certainly many people have been killed, possibly 100 or more.

Australian explorers have been keen on this country for some time - it is known to contain uranium (it being the first source of yellowcake when the Soviet Union went nuclear after World War II) and has great promise with gold, base metals, geothermal and hydrocarbon. And, it must be added, the uprising may be shortlived, a new government may well ensure that resources companies are unaffected and most of the projects are located well away from the capital and strife

But this surge of political risk couldn’t have come at a worse time for Kentor Gold which is on the brink of giving the green light to its Andash copper gold development.

Others affected include Caspian Oil & Gas which has a large acreage position around the Fergana Basin, an area which has been supporting oil production the early 1900s. In late February CIG announced that its joint venture partner in Kyrgyzstan,Santos, had decided to withdraw after spending $US16 million on the project. Caspian is now looking for a new JV partner.

And it was just last week that Manas Resources announced some very encouraging gold drilling results from its Shambesai project in the central Asian republic.

But there are a couple of juniors that will be thinking they dodged a bullet.

Panax Geothermal has effectively wound back work in the country while it awaits news on its application for World Bank financing, Ram Resources last year handed over its Kyrgyzstan interests in lieu of debt to its former Canadian partner, while Namibian Copper last year kicked the tyres on two uranium projects before deciding that Africa was a better bet.

BILL GATES CALLS FOR ENERGY MIRACLES

Microsoft founder Bill Gates is calling for "energy miracles" to help achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Speaking at the annual TED Summit in the US last week, he said that developed nations will need to completely decarbonize the energy they use within 40 years to avert the worst effects of climate change.

He added that reducing carbon emissions by between 50% and 80% by 2050 will be insufficient and more investment in researching green technologies is needed to help meet more ambitious targets.

However, he said that current levels of spending on zero carbon technologies are "ridiculously" low.

Mr Gates is himself investing in a nuclear technology project, an area he claims is often ignored by green tech investors.

The TerraPower project is a new Traveling Wave Reactor that promises to generate power from waste radioactive material. It burns uranium waste slowly, meaning a 60-year supply could be added to a reactor at once and not touched for decades.

According to Mr Gates, spent uranium supplies in the US alone could power the nation for 100 years.

TerraPower: How The Traveling Wave Nuclear Reactor Works

Well, first off TerraPower is a nuclear spinoff project from incubator Intellectual Ventures. Former Microsoft chief technology officer Nathan Myhrvold founded Intellectual Ventures, and Bill Gates is a principal owner of TerraPower. TerraPower uses a “traveling wave reactor design,” which is technology that has been researched since the 1990’s, but according to MIT Tech Review TerraPower is the first company to “develop a practical design,” for travelling wave nuclear reactors.

There’s been a lot written about TerraPower over the past few years, and the company has done a good job of explaining how travelling wave reactors work in these videos on its incubator website. TerraPower’s President John Gilleland explains the process in one video as a new type of nuclear reactor that can provide an infinite amount of power, and unlike the current reactor design that uses only enriched uranium for fuel, TerraPower’s reactor largely uses waste byproduct of that enrichment process, or waste uranium.

TerraPower uses a small amount of enriched uranium at the beginning of the process (see slides at the bottom of the post), but then the nuclear reactor runs on the waste product and can make and consume its own fuel. The benefits are that the reactor doesn’t have to be refueled or have its waste removed until the end of life of the reactor (theoretically a couple hundred years). Using waste uranium reduces the amount of waste in the overall nuclear life cycle, and extends the available supply of the world’s uranium for nuclear by many times.

Not surprisingly, with its Microsoft connection, TerraPower has leaned heavily on supercomputing to design and model the reactor and the lifecycle of the fuel. The TerraPower team is using “1,024 Xeon core processors assembled on 128 blade servers,” which is a cluster that is “over 1000 times the computational ability as a desktop computer.” On Intellectual Venture’s site, they explain the importance of computer modelling as:

Extensive computer simulations and engineering studies produced new evidence that a wave of fission moving slowly through a fuel core could generate a billion watts of electricity continuously for well over 50 to 100 years without enrichment or reprocessing. The hi-fidelity results made possible by advanced computational abilities of modern supercomputer clusters are the driving force behind one of the most active nuclear reactor design teams in the country.

How close to reality is this technology? According to this presentation by Gilleland, “operation of a traveling wave reactor can be demonstrated in less than ten years, and commercial deployment can begin in less than fifteen years.”

So, that’s what Gates was talking about.

NIGERIA'S URANIUM COUP EXPOSE'S UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

In yet another odd coincidence, Alan Grayson led a Congressional delegation that just happened to be in Niger at the time of the recent military coup last Thursday that deposed the legitimate elected government of the Uranium-rich nation.

The official story is that the members of Congress were focused on science, technology and humanitarian relief - at the very same time that the military coup was unfolding on the streets of the capital, Niamey.

This intriguing "coincidence" raises the question: Was this Congressional presence during a military coup another instance of a massive intelligence failure or something entirely different?

Niger is a landlocked African country with a population of 15 million mostly Islamic citizens. Niger has a relatively small military that consumes a mere 1.6% of its annual budget.

When the Grayson delegation reached Niamey, the military staged a coup d'etat to displace the elected government of President Tandja Mamadou who had raised some concerns by moves to introduce reforms and revise the constitution as well as to extend his term in office.

Niger is rich in Uranium holding at least 6% of global reserves - a figure that is twice as large as US Uranium deposits. The radioactive mineral constitutes 72% of national exports. In recent years, foreign corporations have invested billions into the Uranium-driven economy of Niger.

The military coup was allegedly led by a relatively low-level Platoon Commander Salou Djibo who held an official briefing during which he maintained silence about any future return to Niger's constitutional democracy.

Djibo is the now the leader of a 'Supreme Council' of army officials that currently constitutes the military junta governing the Uranium-rich nation.

Following Djibo's coup, the UN promptly condemned the military takeover, and the African Union immediately expelled Niger. France, Niger's former colonial overlord, condemned the coup, but the official American reaction struck a distinctly different Chord when US State Department Spokesman, P. J. Crowley, briefed reporters that President Tandja may have triggered the coup himself by, "trying to extend his mandate."

The simultaneous presence of a US Congressional delegation in a uranium-rich Muslim nation at the time of a right-wing military coup is bound to arouse international scrutiny -- especially when official spokesmen in Washington are the sole sources to rationalize -- if not defend -- the military action against the elected government of Niger.

Grayson is a member of the Science and Technology Committee that has jurisdiction over non-defense (ie. non-military) federal scientific research and development including NASA, FEMA and the Department of Energy. Grayson is a progressive on domestic issues, but he performs disappointingly on foreign policy where Max Blumenthal has pointed out that he follows the AIPAC Line on Israel and the Middle East - because he supported Israel's Operation Cast Lead and a pro-Israel position vis a vis Iran, an Islamic nation currently developing nuclear energy.

At this point in time, no other names of the members of the "Congressional delegation" led by Alan Grayson have been released raising deeper questions about the Uranium Coup.

AUSTRALIA'S ANTI-NUCLEAR RUDD BETRAYS THE FUTURE

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has no right to block nuclear power development in Australia, because he is condemning future Australians to a dark age, Craig Isherwood said today.

“Rudd is betraying future Australians, by bequeathing them a legacy of backward technology,” the Citizens Electoral Council leader said.

“At a time when whole sections of the world are shaking off anti-nuclear superstition and recognising nuclear power is the solution to their energy needs, Rudd is holding Australia back.

“In nuclear terms, Australia is a colonial plantation—we export the raw fuel for paper money; others get the power. In the year 2008-09 Australia exported over 10,000 tonnes of uranium oxide concentrate—15 per cent of the world demand—with a value of over A$1 billion. This amount of uranium would generate $12 billion of electricity at a wholesale price of $30 per megawatt hour.”

Mr Isherwood compared Australia to the rest of the world:

“There are 435 nuclear reactors operational in 30 nations around the world, producing 2601 billion kilowatt hours of electricity a year.

“There are 40 nations now either building, planning to build, or have proposed to build another 488 reactors—South Korea is planning to export 80 reactors over the next 20 years.

“Australia is fortunate to hold by far the world’s largest reserves of both uranium and thorium. We have more than 1.2 million tonnes of known recoverable uranium resources—23 per cent of the world’s total, and an estimated 489,000 tonnes of thorium resources—19 per cent of the world’s total.

“If we move towards breeder reactor technology and thorium-fuelled reactors, Australia alone has enough nuclear resources to power the entire world for at least tens of thousands of years. And we’ll no doubt make the breakthrough to fusion power well before then.”

Mr Isherwood then pointed out the economics of power generation from a scientific basis:

“Nuclear power takes advantage of the enormous energy contained within an atom. It would take two million grams of oil or three million grams of coal to equal the power contained in just one gram of uranium fuel. Even the quantity of uranium ore, depending on the grade, is still a small fraction of the mass of coal producing the equivalent power.

“Nuclear power can only be cheaper given this scientific principle of energy density. It leaves the diffuse and erratic wind and solar power as a pathetic flap in the wind.

“With so much power, nuclear is ideal for desalination. We could create new rivers and green our deserts.

“However, the most exciting opportunity is the ‘isotope economy’ where we use science to incorporate the 3,000 odd isotopes on the Periodic Table into our economy—we can separate, exquisitely fine tune subatomic processes and generate various species of atoms as raw materials for industrial production. This will lead to all sorts or further discoveries—the possibilities are very exciting.”

Mr Isherwood concluded, “Join our fight for a prosperous future and oppose the Luddite Rudd’s path to economic ruin.”

Saturday, 20 February 2010, 11:22 am
Press Release: Citizens Electoral Council of Australia

COLORADO URANIUM MILL AIMS TO OPEN IN 2 YEARS

DENVER - COLORADO

The country's first new uranium mill in 25 years could be operating in Southwest Colorado in early 2012, its chief backer said Tuesday.

But a leading critic of the mill doubts the claim.

Energy Fuels Corp. plans to build the Piñon Ridge mill in the Paradox Valley of Montrose County, about 12 miles west of Naturita.

The company applied to the state health department for a permit to operate last November. By law, the department has until early 2011 to either issue or deny the permit, Energy Fuels President George Glasier said Tuesday at a Colorado Mining Association conference.

“If we didn't think we could get the license, we wouldn't have spent the time and money," Glasier said.

The health department has scheduled a public meeting about the mill for Feb. 17 in Montrose.

Glasier is confident uranium demand will return, although it is now trading in the low $40 range per pound - about $10 less than last summer.

“One of the things the United States needs badly is new uranium mills, because existing mills just cannot handle all the demand there's going to be," Glasier said.

Only mills in Blanding, Utah, and Cañon City have processed uranium recently. The Naturita mill would spur new mining in Colorado and would draw workers from Cortez to Grand Junction, Glasier said.

After state approval in January 2011, the mill could be built in nine months and operating by early 2012, Glasier said.

Others aren't so sure.

“That may be the plan he's promoting," said Travis Stills, a Durango-based lawyer for the mill's opponents. “That doesn't sound very realistic."

In addition to state approval, Energy Fuels needs to secure water rights, an air-quality permit and Environmental Protection Agency blessings for the design of its tailing cells, Stills said. The EPA in particular has a track record of being tough with uranium companies, Stills said.

“That's what a promoter does, is promote a best-case scenario," Stills said.

Glasier also took shots at his environmental opponents.

He had looked at a mill site in San Miguel County but rejected it.

“San Miguel County is where Telluride is, and those people are against mining - any kind of mining," Glasier said.

However, no national environmental groups have joined the fight, he said.

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Obama's Pro Nuclear Power Policy

Obama wants to triple public financing for new nuclear power plants, even as he nixes funds for storing commercial radioactive waste. The policy may be calculated to win votes for climate change legislation, but critics say it's not 'coherent' and carries new security risks.

President Obama has followed up on his support for "a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants," laid out Jan. 27 in his State of the Union speech, by proposing to triple public financing for nuclear power.

The Department of Energy recently proposed $36 billion in new federal loan guarantees on top of $18.5 billion already budgeted – for a total of $54.5 billion. That's enough to help fund six or seven new power plants.

It's a full-speed nuclear-power gambit that many say is largely a bid to win votes from pro-nuclear senators for legislation to address climate change. But his strategy is generating a firestorm of opposition, amid warnings that much more is at stake than a political calculus.

From environmentalists to fiscal hawks to nuclear security experts, the Obama plan is sparking near-open revolt. The nuclear-power expansion is not accompanied by any plan to store commercial radioactive waste, they note, and includes a new push by the Department of Energy into spent-fuel reprocessing and small "pocket nuke" reactor research, which they see as a proliferation risk. The Obama nuclear policy is at cross purposes to his nonproliferation goals, they add, and might even cement his energy legacy as the president who revived a moribund industry that hadn't built a nuclear plant in decades because of the financial, environmental, and security risks involved.

"It's ironic, but Obama could end up being the biggest pro-nuclear power president since Dwight Eisenhower," says Henry Sokolski, executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, a nuclear deterrence expert who served as deputy for nonproliferation policy in the Department of Defense from 1989-1993 under President George H.W. Bush.
One antidote to global warming?

Among environmentalists, who saw Mr. Obama as a friend of renewable energy, the sense of betrayal is acute.

"Every new nuclear power plant built would be a step backwards when it comes to solving global warming," Anna Aurilio, a spokeswoman for Environment America said a statement. "Clean energy solutions like energy efficiency and renewable energy sources such as wind and solar are far more effective."

Obama's stance won plaudits from the industry, however.

"The administration's initiative will make a meaningful difference in bringing about development of the nuclear energy facilities that our nation needs," Marvin Fertel, president of the Nuclear Energy Institute, said in a statement.

Budget hawks have a different set of concerns. They oppose government "subsidies" to the industry (in the form of federal loan guarantees), saying taxpayers assume a huge risk given the industry's track record of cost overruns – and loan defaults – in the 1980s.

"We didn't have good experience recently with the mortgage industry, and we ought to keep that in mind with nuclear power," says Doug Koplow, president of Earthtrack, an energy consulting firm. "For each power plant, we're talking about something like $8 billion in taxpayer exposure to a single asset owned by a private firm. To me that seems unprecedented."

Various studies and the US Government Accountability Office warn of potential loan default rates on the order of 50 percent. The Department of Energy, though, says safeguards are in place to prevent that.

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Uranium Producer Paladin Energy Resolves Dispute Over Shares With Areva

PERTH, Australia — Paladin Energy Ltd. (TSX:PDN), an Australian uranium producer that's listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, said Thursday it has resolved a two-year-long dispute between its subsidiary Summit Resources Ltd. and Areva NC Pty Ltd.

Paladin announced Thursday it has reached a settlement that resolves the dispute with Areva, "and thereby paves the way for Paladin and Areva work co-operatively as shareholders of Summit Resources Ltd."

In April 2007, Summit entered into a strategic alliance with Areva, a subsidiary of the French nuclear enterprise. Under the alliance, Areva would subscribe for shares in Summit, giving it marketing rights over two-thirds of Summit's uranium production from its Australian projects.

Later that month, the directors of Summit recommended acceptance of a takeover offer by Paladin. At the close of the offer, Areva held 10.5 per cent of the shares in Summit and Paladin held 82 per cent.

In August of that year, Summit announced it agreed to settle a legal dispute with Resolute Ltd. and Mt Isa Uranium Pty Ltd.

Areva applied to intervene in the proceedings, seeking to restrain Summit and the defendants from making the agreement binding.

Its application to intervene was heard this summer and a judgement has yet to be delivered.

On Oct. 16, Summit entered into a conditional agreement with Areva, Resolute and Paladin without any party admitting liability to another.

If the settlement agreement becomes unconditional by the court, Areva's application to intervene will be dismissed, the strategic alliance will end, and Summit will pay A$4.5 million to Areva.

Shares in Paladin were trading down less that a per cent at C$4.03 on the Toronto Stock Exchange Tuesday.

Nuclear Restart For Refurbished Canadian Units Gets The Green Light

3rd November 2009

Two reactors at Canada's Bruce A nuclear power plant that have been out of service for over a decade have been given regulatory approval for refueling and restart. At the same time, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has announced five-year operating Licence renewals for the Bruce A and B nuclear power stations.



Units 1 and 2 at the Bruce A plant have been undergoing a major refurbishment to replace their fuel channels and steam generators plus upgrade ancillary systems to current standards in an operation that should enable them to operate for a further 25 years. The announcement by regulator CNSC that refueling can go ahead means the project looks to be on line for the projected 2010 restarts.

The regulator also announced that it had decided to renew the operating licences for Bruce A and the four-unit Bruce B plant, with the new licences valid from 1 November 2009 to 31 October 2014. (The five-year renewal is in line with Canadian regulatory practice, whereby nuclear power plant operating licences are granted for a fixed term and must be renewed periodically.)



As part of its ruling, CNSC has requested that detailed information on the status of the refurbishment of the Bruce A units and on the status of Bruce Power's follow-up monitoring be included in its own annual Status Report on Power Reactors. It has similarly requested detailed information on the status of Bruce Power's follow-up monitoring, ageing management, any safety-significant dates for equipment, and any forecasted end of life plans, be included in the annual Status Report for Bruce B.

Units 1 and 2 at the four-unit Bruce A plant started up in 1977, but unit 2 was shut down in 1995 because a steam generator suffered corrosion after a lead shielding blanket used during maintenance was mistakenly left inside. In the late 1990s then-owner Ontario Hydro decided to lay up all four units at the plant to concentrate resources on other reactors in its fleet, and unit 1 was taken out of service in December 1997 with units 3 and 4 in following in 1998. The four units at sister power station Bruce B continued to operate. Bruce Power took over the operations of both Bruce plants from Ontario Hydro in 2001 and restarted units 3 and 4 by early 2004. Bruce A units 3 and 4 are likely to undergo a similar refurbishment once units 1 and 2 are back in operation.



The decision to refurbish the units followed a 2005 agreement by Bruce Power and the government of Ontario to refurbish the two 769 MWe Candu reactors as a faster option than building new ones in the face of impending power shortages. A similar approach has been adopted elsewhere in Canada, with refurbishment work already completed at Pickering A units 1 and 4, ongoing at Point Lepreau 1 and planned to commence at Gentilly 2 in 2011.

Bruce Power decided to withdraw its application for a third nuclear power station at Bruce in July, saying it would focus on the refurbishment of the existing Bruce plants rather than building Bruce C. It also announced it was scrapping plans for a second new nuclear plant at Nanticoke in Ontario.

Visit My Other Site Australian Uranium Investing

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Small Reactors Given Senate Support

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Two leading senators sign on with Colorado Sen. Mark Udall

Sen Mark Udall (Colorado Senator Mark Udall, below)
Has introduced a bill to authorize federal R&D for small, modular reactors. Udall said in a speech on the Senate floor he believes nuclear energy is an important part of the nation's response to global warming.



"Given the economic, national security, and environmental threats that our current energy system creates, we need a comprehensive and cleaner energy policy. In this regard, nuclear energy clearly has emerged as an important player in our search for a stable and domestic energy source that has less greenhouse gas emissions."

Video of Udall’s Senate speech on nuclear energy




In supporting nuclear energy, Udall is going against his political base and family history. Colorado is one of the greenest states with a long history of opposition to nuclear energy spurred in part by the failure of the Ft. St. Vrain nuclear reactor located 40 miles north of Denver. It never had an accident, but it was a technical and financial failure. Decommissioning was completed in 1992.

Also, Udall is the son of the late Arizona congressman Morris Udall. He is the nephew of former secretary of the interior Stewart Udall. According to media reports,he is considered an strong supporter of environmental organizations and has support their drive to expand the use of renewable energy sources including solar, wind, and biomass.

Queensland Government Called On To Lift Uranium Ban

AUSTRALIA'S uranium sector has renewed its attack on the Queensland government for continually rejecting mining yellowcake in the sunshine state.

Alan Eggers, the man who had built Queensland's most successful uranium explorer, Summit Resources, said the ban was irrational and illogical.

"It is a political ban that has no basis of science, health or safety or commercial or any other area," he said at yesterday's Brisbane mining conference.

"It is time Queensland and the public of Queensland woke up and got into this business, which is a very safe business to be in, which will create a lot of jobs and a lot of royalties and wealth and knowledge and technology for the state."

Toro Energy managing director Greg Hall told the conference the government's list of reasons for continuing its ban on uranium mining did not stand up.

The Queensland Labor government has continually said it has no plans to lift its ban on uranium mining.

"There have been multiple reasons why the Queensland government has decided that uranium mining is not suitable for this state," Mr Hall said.

"It started some time ago, with the government saying that it didn't want competition for coal and there was an expensive report done that proved that uranium was not competition for coal."

Mr Hall added that another concern was competition for funds during the global financial crisis, which he said had not been an issue as many uranium companies had recently raised capital.

"The people of Queensland have to rethink why is the government against uranium mining?" he said.

"Is it a throwback to old 1970s rhetoric or is it something that is genuinely there?"

In contrast, Western Australia is now full steam ahead with uranium activity after Premier Colin Barnett's Liberal Party lifted the ban on mining yellowcake last year.

South Australia, with BHP's massive Olympic Dam mine, and the Northern Territory, with ERA's Ranger mine, are both pro-uranium. Victoria and NSW have blanket bans on both exploring and mining

uranium.

Geological Survey of Western Australia executive director Tim Griffin said the industry was excited when Mr Barnett lifted the uranium ban.

"There is a lot of new work going on in Western Australia on the exploration side, but more particularly in trying to get a mine up and running in the next fours years and the industry is confident it can do that," he said.

"The government is definitely supporting that target and (is) focused on trying to make the changes to allow that to happen."

Schiff Bullish On Asian - Especially China

Video Archive Footage Looking Back At Nuclear Energy & Mining In The 1970's U.S. Footage

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Here's An excellent film about the benefits of nuclear power.
Made in the 1970's.
Included is footage of Cotter Corporation's Schwartzwalder Mine
in Colorado and the Canon City Mill.



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A (late 1970's?) BBC Production. Shows in detail how hydrothermal primary and secondary sedimentary deposits are formed. Shows uranium mining activities and equipment. Includes footage from the following Uranium Mines

Schwartzwalder Mine, Near Boulder, Colorado
King Solomon Mine near Uravan, Colorado
Key Lake Mine , Saskatchewan, Canada

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A Little Of Topic
But Here's A Couple of Links
For The Gold Bugs

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Here's An excellent film about the benefits of nuclear power.
Made in the 1970's.
Included is footage of Cotter Corporation's Schwartzwalder Mine
in Colorado and the Canon City Mill.

Video And Audio Overview Of The Beverly Uranium Mine & Alliance Resources Four Mile Project

BEVERLY URANIUM MINE VIDEO

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Canary Event Presentation By Patrick Mutz
July 2009
Managing Director Alliance Of Alliance resources

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Australia's Uranium Industry - Yellowcake Country

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