Well the dye has been cast, there really isn't much we can do now anyway?
SK, did you not say that the board seemed pretty chuffed with themselves and that their body language seemed to indicate that they are happy with proceedings at the AGM? or at least were back in November.
Haven't Silex said already that they had several existing enrichers looking over the technology and that seemed pretty interested?
I very much doubt that the reason why they were interested was because of ordinary Uranium enrichment?
Well at least one anyway, they already have their gas centrifuge up and running and they already have contracts in train, the gas centrifuge system is a lot dearer to build by about three times I hear, but once built there isn't a great deal of difference in the running costs, I don't see them pulling out gas centrifuge to replace it with Laser Isotope Separation for Uranium enrichment?
Something Silex has never said, is that they are looking at a recycling plant at Wilmington, but I think we all know or most of us anyway,that that is what is going on, I reckon this is what the other existing enrichers are interested in? because it is something that gas centrifuge doesn't lend itself to very well?
I also remember when Paducah was first announced, the head of GLE at the time said Paducah will save them a lot of money, he didn't say Paducah will make them a lot of money? there is a big difference in that statement, because a recycling plant will definitely need a supply of UF6, so why sell the product which they will get at Paducah and then have to repurchase Uranium and then turn it into yellow cake and then have it turned into a gas, when that is what they already had in the first place? doesn't make sense does it?
The MOX systems that these other companies or at least Areva has, are not the best, they use a wet system (aqueous), the pyroprocessing method is better, but they don't have one built yet and as Zog said that could take a lot of money and time to build there is another reason that the LIS technology may be able to help also, it is because of some of the poisons in the RepU (which the existing enrichers already have, they also have tails material for UF6) these nuclear poisons and nasties are not good for the existing BWR reactors, they have been having trouble getter the reactor people to sign up for the MOX fuel, that they are attempting to make, this is what I believe these existing enrichers are interested in, a method to get rid of some of the nasty stuff and the nuclear poisons in the RepU.
I reckon they can see what may be coming? either they become part of it or they stand to lose their whole business to newer technology.
They either become part of the solution or they just become part of the problem going forward.
(20min delay)