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Uranium Shortage Threatens Nuclear Renaissance

Posted by WSJ.com Staff
March 22, 2007, 5:03 pm

Nuclear power’s prolonged slump has led to an underinvestment in uranium mining and uranium-processing facilities, resulting in a severe shortage of uranium, according to a report yesterday by Thomas Neff, a research affiliate at MIT’s Center for International Studies.

And the timing of this shortage couldn’t be much worse — it comes just when the U.S. and other governments around the world are considering building new reactors to meet a potential rebirth of demand for what supporters claim is a cleaner energy source than fossil fuels. Today, there’s only enough uranium production to meet 65% of current needs, according to Neff, and uranium prices have jumped to $85 per pound from $10 a pound just a year ago.

That could possibly end any nuclear renaissance before it even gets started.

The Globe & Mail interviewed Neff about his report, and he told them nuclear-industry executives are getting — and we think this is a technical term — “freaked out.”

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Author, author!
Check the miners’ stocks. They beat the G&M to the story by a few quarters.

Comment by climateer - March 22, 2007 at 5:44 pm
This study needs to be looked at carefully. The news reports all seem to focus on a shortage of Uranium. The real issue seems to a shortage of Uranium production facilities - which can probably be rectified faster than nuclear plants can be built.

Comment by KenG - March 23, 2007 at 8:45 am