The Econo Miss

In the effort to curb carbon emissions, nuclear energy is having a kind of renaissance in Canada and around the world, with support coming from the corporate sector, governments and some environmental groups.
In 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster brought public support for the nuclear energy industry to an all-time low. Since then, investment in the sector has been unpopular.
However, global warming has forced people to look at other ways of generating electricity to satisfy our increasing energy consumption. There are two sides to the issue. One side argues that nuclear energy tries to solve the problem while creating another one and the other side argues that nuclear is a very viable option because we need to do something about global warming now.
Whether nuclear is the answer or not, in the past five years, uranium (a key component in nuclear energy) prices have increased from about US$15 per pound to about US$90 per pound, reactng to global demand and government approval for more nuclear plants.
The United States has approved the plans for 32 new nuclear plants and last week, the green light was given to develop new reactors in the United Kingdom.
These events have sent the Athabasca Basin in Northern Saskatchewan buzzing with activity, part of which is aptly named “Uranium City.”
Saskatchewan is now considered a “have” province, since global demand for potash and uranium has increased. There is enough uranium in Saskatchewan to equal the energy output of two billion barrels of oil.
Canada is the world’s largest uranium supplier followed by Australia, Kazakhstan and Russia. We provide about 30 per cent of the world’s demand for uranium and the largest deposits are all in Saskatchewan.
Cameco Corp. and Cogema Resources are the biggest companies operating in the Athabasca Basin. Cameco’s production at Cigar Lake was to begin this year, but major flooding pushed it back to 2009.
The reserves at Cigar Lake are reported to be high grade, huge, and are thought to be keeping uranium prices stable. The speculations that the future will see an increase in the demand of uranium have brought more foreign developers into the area.
Cameco will now be cooperating with the Russian Tekhsnabeksport (Tenex) in the prospecting and production of uranium in Saskatchewan and in Nunavut to the north.
This year, China made its first venture into the area when the steel giant Sinosteel signed with the tiny Canadian company, Ditem Explorations, setting the stage for future Chinese exploration and development in the Athabasca Basin.
While nuclear energy emits no carbon and does not contribute to acid rain or smog, the exploration and mining of uranium does produce carbon and is devastating to local ecosystems. The costs associated with the disposal of nuclear waste and the building of plants is also expensive. Despite the hazards associated with uranium mining, developers continue to plan for further exploration.