appears there is plenty of uranium already available -...

appears there is plenty of uranium already available - especially in Japan .....

^{Cameco ‘surprised’ after Tepco cancels $1.3-billion uranium-supply contract}

DAN HEALING

CALGARY — Reuters
Published Wednesday, Feb. 01, 2017 8:33AM EST
Last updated Wednesday, Feb. 01, 2017 4:11PM EST

The CEO of Cameco Corp. says the decision by a Japanese utility to terminate a uranium-supply contract worth about $1.3-billion in revenue from now through 2028 came “out of the blue.”
Tim Gitzel said Tokyo Electric Power Co. sent a notice on Jan. 24 saying it wanted to terminate the long-term contract signed in 2009 and would not accept delivery of a shipment due Wednesday.
He said Tepco confirmed the notice on Tuesday despite Cameco’s interim attempts to discuss remedies for the situation.
“We were very surprised to get that notice,” Mr. Gitzel said in an interview, adding Saskatoon-based Cameco considers Tepco to be in default and will pursue all legal “rights and remedies.”
He said the Japanese power company cited forces beyond its control – specifically government regulations arising from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident – that have prevented the operation of its nuclear plants.
“You know, the Fukushima accident happened six years ago and we’ve been dealing with them since then,” Mr. Gitzel said.
“They’ve taken delivery under this contract in 2014, 2015 and 2016, so we’re a bit perplexed as to why now all of a sudden they think there’s a case of, as they say, ‘force majeure.’”
Shares in Cameco opened more than 10 per cent lower on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Wednesday morning after the company announced receipt of the termination notice. They fell as much as 12 per cent from Tuesday’s close
The company estimated the revenue at risk this year is $126-million, out of $2.1-billion and $2.2-billion of revenue coming from all sources including Tepco, but said it has sufficient financial capacity to manage the loss.
A termination would affect about 9.3 million pounds of uranium supplied by Cameco through 2028, including about 855,000 pounds annually in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
The company recently reported overall deliveries of about 31.5 million pounds of uranium at an average realized price of $54.46 per pound in 2016.
Mr. Gitzel said the short notice won’t cause any logistical problems for Cameco because the delivery is actually made through a “book transfer” and likely involves no physical movement of product. He said TEPCO, like other customers, has been stockpiling its reactor fuel in licensed storage to await approval to restart its Japanese power plants.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repo...ly-uranium-to-tokyo-electric/article33855015/