Why uranium prices are soaring

Conflicts and resurgent demand combine to radioactive effect When russia invaded Ukraine, panic gripped Europe’s nuclear experts—the civilian variety, that is. Ukraine, where 15 reactors relied on Russia for their uranium, rushed to sign an unusually long 12-year deal with Canada. European utilities, also reliant on Russia, drew the maximum they could under other contracts. Most …

New nuclear may be delayed by uncertain fuel supplies

Many of the new nuclear reactors under development are designed to run on uranium at enrichments as high as 15%-19.75%, known as high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), rather than traditional Light Water Reactor (LWR) technology, which typically uses uranium enriched to 3%-5%. The only commercial source of HALEU, however, is Russia. The invasion of Ukraine, and Russia’s …

Canada offers CAD3 billion finance for nuclear in Romania

The Canadian Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson has announced CAD3 billion (USD2.2 billion) of export financing to Nuclearelectrica to support the building of two CANDU-6 reactors at the Cernavoda nuclear power plant in Romania. The agreement was announced by Wilkinson alongside Sebastian Burduja, Romania’s Energy Minister, in Ottowa. He said it would …

Installation of the dome part of the outer containment has started at Rooppur NPP Unit 2

Installation of the dome part of the outer containment of Unit 2 reactor building has started at the construction site of Rooppur NPP in the People’s Republic of Bangladesh (General Designer and General Contractor is Rosatom Engineering Division). Installation of the lower tier of the outer containment dome has been completed. The installation of the …

Poland’s first NPP to start operating in 2033

Poland’s first nuclear power plant (NPP) will start operating in 2033, as planned, the Polish government’s commissioner for strategic energy infrastructure said in Washington on Wednesday. Anna Łukaszewska-Trzeciakowska went to the U.S. to hold talks with representatives of Westinghouse and Bechtel, Poland’s partners in the NPP construction, about accelerating work on the investment. After the …