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25/06/2009 1:47:02 AM VIENNA, June 24 (Reuters) - Uranium worth extracting should rise by 10 to 15 percent this year with Australia, Russia, Canada and India racing to feed rising demand for nuclear fuel, a U.N. atomic official said on Wednesday.
Experts at an International Atomic Energy Agency symposium said this week they expect uranium demand will continue to grow despite the global downturn as countries turn to atomic energy to replace fossil fuels and reduce carbon emissions.
Globally identified uranium resources that are economically viable totalled 5.5 million tonnes in 2007, according to a joint report by the Nuclear Energy Agency in Paris and the Vienna-based IAEA.
Chaitanyamoy Ganguly, head of the IAEA's nuclear fuel cycle and materials department, told Reuters he expects the figure to rise in the 2009 report, to be published in June next year.
"From the trend based on the (symposium) presentations ... you'll see at least a 10-15 percent rise in identified resources," Ganguly said. "(That) is the lower range. I will not be surprised if it is beyond that.
"In Australia, in Russia, in Canada, all the presentations that we have heard so far, there is an upward trend," he said.
A tie-up between Rosatom, the Russian state-owned producer, and the Canada-based Uranium One firm announced last week is just the latest in a series of moves on the part of Asian and European countries to lock in uranium supply.
Just over 60 countries, or around half of the IAEA membership, are seeking advice on how to build their first nuclear plant. The agency expects this number to rise as concerns about energy security and carbon emissions grow.
Spot uranium is trading at $54 a pound, according to a weekly report from Ux Consulting (UxC), a price which Ganguly said is "comfortable" for utilities and uranium producers.
The price of U3O8, a compound that is processed into fuel for reactors , has risen from $40 a lb in April, its lowest in more than three years, lifted by a general rise in commodity and energy markets.
Ganguly said although no new nuclear reactors went online last year and the global financial slump will affect projects, longer-term demand -- driven by China and India -- will rise again in 2015-2020.
"It will definitely pick up tempo after this recession is over." He said it was important to make uranium in the ground ready for use more quickly, a process which now takes some 10 years due to licensing required to ensure mining does not damage the environment and is benefical to local communities. (Reporing by Sylvia Westall; editing by James Jukwey)
SNU Price at posting:
7.8¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
