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Rajesh Sinha 2011SMN6502
S Gayathri 2011SMN6509
Arjun Srivastava 2011SMN6518
World Trade in Uranium
Uranium:Naturally occurring with several isotopesU235 is fissile and used as a fuel in nuclear reactors
Concentration to be increased to 3 to 4% for use in civil nuclear reactors
Mined in form of uranium oxide U3O8
Introduction
Sources of Uranium
1. Uranium extracted through mining of natural mining deposits
2. U235 extracted from decommissioned nuclear weapon warheads and blended down to commercial enrichment
Sources of Uranium
Mined Uranium
Companies mining uranium
US-Russian Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) Agreement
Government-industry partnershipRussia is dismantling a portion of its old Soviet-era
nuclear warheadsHEU is removed from warheads and blended with
uranium of lower U235 enrichment to produce LEU
Shipped to USA
Secondary Source
The Uranium market has a history of volatilityNot only moves with supply and demand forces, but
also with geopoliticsPresently the economically recoverable price of
Uranium is US$ 130/kgWorld’s measured Uranium resources will last 80
years at this price and current consumption
Uranium Market
Demand and supply of Uranium
1. Specified Pricing Either fixed price, or base price plus adjustment for
inflation
2. Market-Related Pricingbased on the uranium market price at or near the time of
delivery, and/or some other published market indexprice is the market price less a discount (or plus a
premium)greater level of uncertainty
Pricing (long-term contracts)
Negotiated Pricing contracts in which prices are agreed to periodically (usually annually) by the buyer and seller
Hybrid Pricing involves a market index which is averaged with either a base-escalated, fixed, or cost-related price
Cost Related Pricing defined by a price that is tied to the cost of production from a uranium mine
Portfolio or Realised Prices Suppliers and utilities generally operate a portfolio strategy by concluding contracts periodically over the long term
Other Pricing Mechanisms
Uranium prices in international market
Graph courtesy of UxC
Uranium Spot Price on 11 Nov 13
Source: http://www.uxc.com
Nuclear Non-Proliferation RegimeNuclear Non-Proliferation TreatyInternational Framework for Nuclear Energy
Cooperation (formerly Global Nuclear Energy Partnership)
Fissile Material Cut Off Treaty (FMCT)Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)Indian Nuclear Liability LawAustralian Government Policy on Trade in Uranium
Laws Governing Uranium Trade
Period between Signing of Contract and Shipment Long-term contracts signed well before first delivery under
the contracts Take a year or more to finalise after acceptance of the
relevant commercial terms like quantities, delivery schedules, price, and delivery location
Delivery Formats Natural uranium (U3O8 and UF6) is nearly always sold by
“book transfer” It is delivered to the facility, sampled and weighed by the
processor A “delivery” under a sales contract is then made by the
seller giving notice to the facility owner that the uranium ownership is to be transferred
Trade Mechanism for Uranium
November 1991 - imports of uranium products from the then-Soviet Union were being dumped in the US market
October 16, 1992 - governments of the six uranium-producing CIS countries signed quota-based suspension agreements
March 1994 - amendment to the Russian agreement was finalized
December 7, 2000 - US enrichment company, USEC Inc., petitioned DOC to conduct an investigation of dumping into the USA of enriched uranium imports from Europe
December 31, 2001 - DOC ruled that both European enrichers, AREVA NC and Urenco Ltd, were receiving unfair subsidies and, in the case of Eurodif, dumping LEU in the US market
Case Study on Dispute due to Dumping of Uranium
Australia31% of the world reservesWorld's third-ranking producer, behind Kazakhstan
and Canada2012 Australia produced 8,244 tonnes of U3O8
Uses no nuclear power
COUNTRY STUDY
Australian uranium production and exports
Source: http://www.world-nuclear.org
Australian uranium export sales
Source: http://www.world-nuclear.org
15% of the world's uranium resources28% of world production in 2009, then 33% in 2010
and about 35% in 2011Kazatomprom- national atomic company
set up in 1997 and owned by the governmentcontrols all uranium exploration, mining and imports
and exports of nuclear materialsforged major strategic links with Russia, Japan and
China
Kazakhstan
Uranium exploration in Kazakhstan started in 1948Uranium production and revenue in Kazakhstan is
tabulated below
Source: Kazatomprom, currency KZT million
Mining
BN-350 fast reactor was built under Russia's Minatom supervision
Plant has since been decommissionedPlans for future nuclear power include 300 MWe class
units for the western part and smaller cogeneration units in regional cities
Proposals for new nuclear power plant near Lake Balkhash, north of Almaty, and for one or two 300 MWe units at Aktau
In 2012, government was reviewing draft master plan of power generation development in the country until 2030
Nuclear Power in Kazakhstan
Nuclear power is the primary source of energyOut of a total production of 541 TWh of electricity in
France, 75% was produced using nuclear power- highest percentage in the world
Électricité de France (EDF) - main electricity generation and distribution companyIt is owned 85% by the French GovernmentThe company manages 59 nuclear power plants
France
exported 45TWh of electricity to its neighbours making it the biggest energy exporter in the EU in 2012
success story - providing cheap energy with low CO2 emissions
François Hollande's victory in the 2012 Presidential Election - closing the oldest 24 reactors by 2025, reduce share of nuclear power in France to 50%
France
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_France
Active nuclear reprocessing program, at the COGEMA La Hague site
Undertakes enrichment work, MOX fuel fabrication, and other activities at the Tricastin nuclear power centre
2/3 of the output of the nuclear plant at Tricastin powers the domestic enrichment which meets 100% of France's enrichment requirement
Carried out reprocessing of fuel from other countries like the United States and Japan
Fuel Cycle
Does not mine uranium for the front end of the fuel cycle domestically
French companies have various holdings in the Uranium market
10,500 tonnes per year coming from various locationsCanada – 4500 tU/yr.Niger – 3200 tU/yr.
Mining
Disposal of high level nuclear waste planned at Meuse/Haute Marne Underground Research Laboratory deep geological repository
World's largest supplier of commercial nuclear power2013 - nuclear power provided by 100 commercial
reactors operating at 65 nuclear power plantsProduce a total of 790 TWh of electricity- 19.2% of
the nation's total electric energy generation in 2011Following the "Three Mile Island" accident in 1979,
no new nuclear power plant had been started since 1974
United States of America
Considerable opposition to the use of nuclear power in the U.S
132 U.S. nuclear plants built52% of the 253 originally ordered21% were permanently and prematurely closed 27% have completely failed for a year or more at least
onceSurviving U.S. nuclear plants produce ≈ 90% of their
full-time full-load potential - not fully dependable
United States of America
Electricity Net Generation
Electricity Net Generation- Nuclear
Mining 4th largest uranium reserves in the world In 2001, US mined only 5% of the uranium consumed by its
nuclear power plants. Remainder was imported from Russia and Australia. After 2001, with uranium prices steadily increasing, mining
has been revivedFuel Enrichment
United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) performs all enrichment activities for U.S. commercial nuclear plants.
Fuel Vendors All are light water fuel fabrication facilities because only
LWRs are operating in the US
Fuel Cycle
Reprocessing Potential to contribute to nuclear proliferation, and is
vulnerable to nuclear terrorismObama administration has disallowed reprocessing of
nuclear waste, citing nuclear proliferation concernsWaste Management
As plants continue to age, many on-site spent fuel pools have reached their capacity
Prompted creation of dry cask storage facilitiesApproximately 65,000 tons of nuclear waste now in
temporary storage throughout the U.SPlant Decommissioning
Expensive, tedious and long process13 reactors have permanently shut down
Fuel Cycle
Pricing of uranium is usually through long term contracts
Notwithstanding, there is a thriving spot market for uranium which is traded like any other commodity amongst the countries which are eligible for the same
The principles of supply and demand are equally applicable to the price of uranium
Number of international treaties which control and limit the trade in uranium - non-tariff barriers to trade
CONCLUSION
Australia Largest reserves of uranium It is not the largest exporter due to the anti-nuclear policies of the
countryKazakhstan
Largest exporter Developing technologies to move up in the value chain as most of the
enrichment and fuel fabrication facilities are in countries who are the final end users
France Has negligible reserves Has the largest percentage of national electricity produced using
nuclear powerUSA
Main technology was developed here But left behind by other countries like France due to the strong
anti-nuclear sentiment
CONCLUSION