October 09, 2007 Uranium maintains spot price, stays in spotlight     Publisher: U3O8.biz     Author: LUke Brocki
	Uranium's spot price has held steady through the weekend at US$75 a pound and the Toronto Stock Exchange was closed Monday for Thanksgiving. The markets were quiet, but uranium still made headlines. Of particular interest is the metal's presence in Iran. A United Nations-led delegation arrives in Iran's capital Tuesday, to continue discussions geared toward persuading the country to drop nuclear activities. The international community fears Iran may be concealing a covert military program which aims to produce nuclear weapons. The delegation will include officers from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations' nuclear watchdog. Its role in Iran is to resume a push for increased transparency for the nation's nuclear program and for the reduction of Iran's enrichment capacity enough so that it's impossible for the country to produce weapons-grade uranium. The western allegations that Iran is pursuing a secret nuclear weapons program are led by the United States and France, whose leaders have been calling on economic sanctions against Iran if negotiations fail. And the Bush Administration hasn't ruled out military action if peaceful resolution proves impossible. Iran has rejected claims that its nuclear program has hidden military applications, adding its right to pursue nuclear energy programs is not on the bargaining table. But Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also said the country welcomes foreign investment and cooperation around nuclear energy affairs and welcomed questions from the UN nuclear agency. Thanks to a friendly push from Russia and China, Iran just won some breathing room from newly proposed UN sanctions over its nuclear program: Russia and China both demanded in the Security Council that Iran be given until November to address questions from the IAEA. The issue of nuclear proliferation in Iran is but one piece of a larger, and far more complex, nuclear puzzle. Australia has recently signed a deal that would allow exports of its rich uranium deposits to reach India, a country whose signature has yet to appear on an international nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Closer to home, the Canadian Press reported Monday the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, the country's nuclear watchdog, could be "too cozy with the industry it's supposed to monitor." Still, much of the world is plowing ahead with infrastructure projects meant to take advantage of a "nuclear renaissance". Since January 2007, the global plans for new nuclear power plants have risen 37 per cent, up by 82 to 304, with China leading the charge. The Asian tiger plans to build 114 new nuclear reactors, up from projections of 63 last January, a whopping jump of 81 per cent. There are already 104 nuclear plants operating in 31 states, generating about 20 percent of the country's electricity. That's peanuts compared to France, where 80 per cent of electricity comes from nuclear energy, but not for long. The United States is ramping up production. The country is now planning 32 new reactors, compared to the 23 it proposed in January; a 39-per cent rise. On September 24, NRG Energy Inc, the second-largest power producer in Texas, filed the first application to build a nuclear reactor in the United States since 1979's Three Mile Island meltdown in Pennsylvania. To date, the renewal of western interest in nuclear power has been fuelled by economic perks: subsidies, tax breaks, credits, loan guarantees... but tough safety and security regulations are essential if uranium's renaissance is to be a safe and peaceful one.
	You can view the Previous Market Commentary item: Thu Oct 11, 2007, Uranium spot price holds ground, stock prices rise You can view the Next Market Commentary item: Sat Oct 6, 2007, Uranium sales continue to adjust You can return to the main Market Commentary page, or press the Back button on your browser.