nuclear-news

While Japanese power producers including Tokyo Electric Power Co. are seeking to restart reactors as soon as possible as the cost of other fuels escalates, operations may not resume until next year, according to Deutsche Bank AG.

That’s threatening to delay a rebound in demand for uranium, hurting miners such as Australia’s Paladin Energy Ltd. as supplies outstrip demand. There is about 60 million pounds of surplus uranium around the world, according to Cantor Fitzgerald LP.

“The process for restarts is clearly going to take some time,” said Jonathan Hinze, a senior vice president at Ux, which provides research on the nuclear industry. “Japanese utilities are unlikely to require any new fuel until 2014 at the earliest. There is a realization that the uranium demand from Japan is unlikely to dramatically change anytime soon, especially this year.”

Uranium for immediate delivery has dropped as much as 21 percent this year, extending a 17 percent decline in 2012, according to data from Ux. Prices slumped 12 percent in July, the biggest monthly loss since March 2011. They climbed as high as $152 in June 2007.

“The weakness in uranium prices is partially attributable to uncertainty surrounding the timetable for reactor restarts in Japan,” John Borshoff, the chief executive officer of Australia-based Paladin Energy, said in the company’s quarterly production report July 16…..All but two of Japan’s 50 reactors remain idle due to the Fukushima disaster and must meet stricter safety standards set by the NRA before they can be restarted………The reactor review process is likely to take six months for each one, Deutsche Bank said in a July 15 note, citing NRA Chairman Shunichi Tanaka. An evaluation of all of Japan’s reactors may take more than three years…..Deutsche said.http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/08/02/business/slow-reactor-restart-process-rattles-energy-markets-as-uranium-piles-up/#.Uf2iE9Jwo6I