2014 December 10 « nuclear-news

Uranium smuggling gang arrested in Moldova

Moldova police arrest ‘uranium-smuggling gang’ http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30402104
Moldovan police say they have arrested seven people suspected of smuggling uranium from Russia to sell it on.About 200g (7oz) of the material was seized in a raid last week, with a black market value of about $2.1m (£1.3m; €1.7m).It was allegedly smuggled into Moldova in a special container on a train.

Those arrested had experience of handling radioactive substances, and have admitted their guilt, Moldovan police added.A kilogram of another hazardous material, mercury, was also seized.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation aided the police in their investigation, the Associated Press news agency reports.In 2011, Moldovan police arrested six people trying to sell a kilogram of uranium to buyers in Africa.

December 10, 2014 Posted by Christina Macpherson | EUROPE, incidents | Leave a comment

Uranium prices will stay low : glut of uranium

Despite rebound, uranium spot price still too low to encourage new mines, South China Morning Post, 08 December, 2014 The spot-market price of uranium has rebounded almost 40 per cent from a nine-year low in May, but miners and analysts say prices are still too low to encourage the development of new mines to meet higher long-term demand for the nuclear power fuel, largely from the mainland.

Given ample supply, prices will remain depressed for some more time yet in the wake of the bear market induced by Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011, they say……..

it is a bit early to celebrate … in the near term, price gains will be held back by the existence of large inventory held by uranium consumers,” miner Rio Tinto Uranium’s managing director Clark Beyer said.

Mainland imports had been quite high in the past five years, and power producers in the United States were sitting on enough stock to last two years according to US government statistics, Beyer said.

Jonathan Hinze, a senior vice-president at US-based Ux Consulting, estimated this year’s combined mined uranium oxide supply and supply from inventories at 190 million pounds (86.18 tonnes), above demand of around 170 million pounds.

Even in 2020, the consultancy expects supply of 220 million pounds – including that from major new mines under development in Canada and Namibia – to be greater than the 200 million pounds of demand……

December 10, 2014 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs | Leave a comment

Report from global power group -Solar, wind, cost-competitive for peak energy

Solar, wind cost-competitive for peak energy, study finds,CBC News 8 Dec 14, Solar and wind power are increasingly cost-competitive with conventional forms of electrical power, including coal and nuclear, even without subsidies, according to a new study.

“The economics of alternative energy have changed dramatically in the last decade,” said George Bilicic, global head of the power energy and infrastructure group at Lazard Ltd. and author of the report.

“Utilities still require conventional technologies to meet the energy needs of a developed economy, but they are using alternative technologies to create diversified portfolios of power generation resources. The cost for utilities to generate energy from photovoltaic technologies has fallen by nearly 20 per cent in the past year, and nearly 80 per cent in the last five years, he said.

China’s entry into the solar panel business has helped push down the cost of solar technologies.

‘What’s most interesting about renewable and the mature area right now is utility-scale wind on land and utility-scale solar on land’– George Bilicic, Lazard

As a source of peak energy — that is, power at times when there is the greatest demand on the electrical grid — photovoltaics are more flexible and cost-competitive than conventional technologies, Bilicic said.

“What’s most interesting about renewable and the mature area right now is utility-scale wind on land and utility-scale solar on land. That is the most financeable and the most cost-effective,” he said in an interview with CBC’s The Exchange with Amanda Lang.

Lazard has published the study, called Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis, since 2008 and has a perspective on the fall prices.

It found land-based wind power has dropped in price — as much as 60 per cent in the last five years, though off-shore power remains expensive……….http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/solar-wind-cost-competitive-for-peak-energy-study-finds-1.2781609

December 10, 2014 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, renewable | Leave a comment