Post by Catdaddy on Feb 8, 2007 9:02:14 GMT -5
Time for a uranium refinery, Areva boss says
Thursday, February 08, 2007
REGINA -- Saskatchewan's uranium industry, which produces one-third of the world's natural uranium, needs to have a refinery in the province in 10 years, says the head of the province's second-largest uranium company.
That means a decision on a refinery has to be made soon, says Don Ching, president and CEO of Areva Resources Canada, which operates the McClean Lake uranium mine and mill in northwestern Saskatchewan and is developing the nearby Midwest project.
Saskatoon-based Areva Resources also has minority positions in the Cigar Lake and McArthur River uranium mines and Key Lake mill, which are all operated and majority owned by Cameco Corp.
Areva company produced 9.5 million pounds of uranium oxide, or "yellowcake," in 2005.
"Cameco and Areva, who are two of the big players in this industry, have both indicated that a new processing plant is going be required by the industry in approximately 10 years," Ching told the Regina and District Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday.
While a decade might seem like a long time, Ching said the lead times required by the highly regulated, capital-intensive uranium industry necessitate an early decision on any refinery or processing facility.
"It takes two to three years" to develop plans for the facility, said Ching, a former labour lawyer and Crown corporation executive who took over the top job at the French government-owned uranium exploration and mining company in January 2005.
"It takes at least four years, in my mind, to get through the regulatory process, and it takes at least a year to a year and a half to identify a site and make sure that the folks who live in that area are comfortable with being the site for this kind of project," he told chamber members.
"We're getting very, very close to the time period where one has to make a decision as to what you're going to do, or are we going to do it," he added.
The public will have to strongly support any proposed uranium refinery or processing facility in order for Areva or any other company to proceed with the multi-million-dollar facility, Ching said.
He was referring to plans in the late 1970s to build a uranium refinery at Warman that were opposed by a significant number of local residents and eventually scuttled.
But support for uranium mining in Saskatchewan has been rising during the past decade to 84 per cent at present from a low of 63 per cent in 1990, according to recent opinion polls.
In addition, 80 per cent of respondents would like to see further value-added processing of uranium in Saskatchewan, while just over 70 per cent support building a nuclear reactor in the province.
"So there's good, strong support," Ching said, adding the industry will not proceed with any large project without it. "I know for a fact that Areva will not build a plant anywhere in the world where the local folks are not prepared to accept it being in their community."
Ching added communities where the "vast majority of residents" support the building of a uranium refinery or processing facility, and actually host the construction of such a facility, are the most likely to see further developments.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2007
Thursday, February 08, 2007
REGINA -- Saskatchewan's uranium industry, which produces one-third of the world's natural uranium, needs to have a refinery in the province in 10 years, says the head of the province's second-largest uranium company.
That means a decision on a refinery has to be made soon, says Don Ching, president and CEO of Areva Resources Canada, which operates the McClean Lake uranium mine and mill in northwestern Saskatchewan and is developing the nearby Midwest project.
Saskatoon-based Areva Resources also has minority positions in the Cigar Lake and McArthur River uranium mines and Key Lake mill, which are all operated and majority owned by Cameco Corp.
Areva company produced 9.5 million pounds of uranium oxide, or "yellowcake," in 2005.
"Cameco and Areva, who are two of the big players in this industry, have both indicated that a new processing plant is going be required by the industry in approximately 10 years," Ching told the Regina and District Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday.
While a decade might seem like a long time, Ching said the lead times required by the highly regulated, capital-intensive uranium industry necessitate an early decision on any refinery or processing facility.
"It takes two to three years" to develop plans for the facility, said Ching, a former labour lawyer and Crown corporation executive who took over the top job at the French government-owned uranium exploration and mining company in January 2005.
"It takes at least four years, in my mind, to get through the regulatory process, and it takes at least a year to a year and a half to identify a site and make sure that the folks who live in that area are comfortable with being the site for this kind of project," he told chamber members.
"We're getting very, very close to the time period where one has to make a decision as to what you're going to do, or are we going to do it," he added.
The public will have to strongly support any proposed uranium refinery or processing facility in order for Areva or any other company to proceed with the multi-million-dollar facility, Ching said.
He was referring to plans in the late 1970s to build a uranium refinery at Warman that were opposed by a significant number of local residents and eventually scuttled.
But support for uranium mining in Saskatchewan has been rising during the past decade to 84 per cent at present from a low of 63 per cent in 1990, according to recent opinion polls.
In addition, 80 per cent of respondents would like to see further value-added processing of uranium in Saskatchewan, while just over 70 per cent support building a nuclear reactor in the province.
"So there's good, strong support," Ching said, adding the industry will not proceed with any large project without it. "I know for a fact that Areva will not build a plant anywhere in the world where the local folks are not prepared to accept it being in their community."
Ching added communities where the "vast majority of residents" support the building of a uranium refinery or processing facility, and actually host the construction of such a facility, are the most likely to see further developments.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2007
