I reckon Seawind Pilot was sort of on the money in some of his earlier posts, when he said he thought Cameco were the best possibility of partnering with Silex back then, but GE ended up with the larger slice in the end , that may have come down to a US Government push perhaps?
I reckon Cameco would have liked to have gotten more maybe?
Recent events now show that this may have been the case?
But something else that caught my eye was his mention of General Atomics!
In the end they went for the ACP, but I now reckon that isn’t working out too well for them and Centrus?
I have also seen mention of GA doing some talks with Silex Cameco just recently on another site, this may have had some legs? because the Silex enrichment process is now a much different animal than it was back in 2006 when GA said the process needed to be commercially proven back then.
It has now been proven that it certainly is commercially viable and perhaps ACP isn’t when compared to what GLE have now?
Could it be that GA wanted in because of their close connection with the DoD and DoE?
Was that an attempt to get the Silex tech in the back door?
I reckon that may have been a distinct possibility?
It now seems as if GA got the short shift? did Cameco cause that?
So we now wait to see if US Government approval is forthcoming?
If there is any truth to GA getting pushed aside? Could that affect the outcome?
Below are some of Seawind Pilots earlier posts around 2006 and some of it is very interesting reading now with the benefit of hindsight.
I am probably a little bit premature in sharing my research but the subject is very topical so here goes.
I have spoken to a number of industry players around the world on the subject.
Urenco. Did not do DD because they are confident that their centrifuge is the way of the future. Maurice Lenders and Excutive Director presented a paper in Hong Kong on the 6th April to the World N Association on enrichment and where he saw the technology going.
USEC. They are fast running out of cash to fund the American centrifuge. There is speculation that they may be taken over and that may be the only way for them to progress AC.
General Atomics. They did do DD. The person i spoke to would not give much information except to say they could not comment for commercial confidentiality reasons. They did say that Silex had been developed with slow conservatism and they would like to see much more rapid progress to prove the commercial viability. They were also aware that a foreign head of state recently in OZ was showing interest. If GA are successful their vechicle is likley to be Converdyn which together with Honeywell are building the centfiuges for USEC.
GA are keen to further develop the Beverly mine in SA. They are also having officials come to OZ on 8th? May to further their interest and attend a World N Conference in Perth at that time.
I still have some more digging to do but it is looking to me that GA might be the one.
To add fuel to the n fire more about Jim Graham. A potential SLX Director???
Nuclear Energy: Cheaper, Cleaner, Greener
Nuclear power already provides 17 percent of the world's electricity, and that will grow as demand for power in places like India, China, Mexico and Brazil increases.
South Australia should embrace nuclear energy as the "cheaper, cleaner, green" fuel source of the future, the former head of the Beverley uranium mine in the state's Far North says.
"You have missed the boat twice here . . . and you're going to miss it again," Jim Graham, former president and chief executive of mine operator Heathgate Resources, says.
"Australia is the only industrialized country in the world without a nuclear reactor--at some point, you're going to have to build one."
His controversial address, at an Adelaide forum of power and environmental officials sponsored by the SA Chamber of Mines and Energy, follows calls by Premier Mike Rann for drastic measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions, news.com.au reported. Now the head of energy company ConverDyn in Denver, Colorado, Graham said his message to Rann was "keep an open mind" on nuclear power as the best way of achieving that goal.
However, a spokeswoman for Rann said yesterday there would be no nuclear power station built in SA "on our watch".
The comments coincide with the release of a World Nuclear Association paper which says that if Australia replaced a quarter of its coal-fired generating plants with six nuclear reactors, greenhouse gas emissions would be slashed by 50 million tons a year.
Graham also warned the State Government that "ignoring" the world-wide demand for nuclear energy "will not make it go away" and SA should consider the jobs and "millions of dollars in taxes" the industry here would generate.
"Australia is number one in greenhouse gas emissions per capita in the world," Graham said.
"I got excited when I read the Premier's comments in The Advertiser calling for urgent action on climate control, because I thought he was advocating clean energy sources . . . My message (to Rann) is keep an open mind."
Asked why he thought SA had rejected nuclear energy, he said: "Fear of the unknown, primarily. We have a society that does not want to take the time to learn about it.
"Nuclear power already provides 17 percent of the world's electricity, and that will grow as demand for power in places like India, China, Mexico and Brazil increases."
Converdyn and Heathgate are both subsidiaries of General Atomics. The plot thickens.
Cameco have indicated several times that they did want to get into enrichment activity.
seawindpilot
post Posted: May 7 2006, 07:00 AM
I have not made much further progress in getting responses from the various n enrichment players or wannabees around the world.
I have now had responses from
GA, Westinghouse, urenco, honeywell/converdyn, BNF and Cameco
It is only speculation on my part but by a process of elimination and what has not been said in the replies i am prepared to put my money on GA-Converdyn and Cameco as the two parties in the race. Both Ga and Canada's Cameco are into all side of the N industry but have a gap in enrichment and must obtain enriched product from third parties for fuel rod fabrication. Both have publicly stated that they would like to expand further Cameco on their web site even give a flow chart highlighting the gap where enrichment does not fit into their companies structure of business's.
Elsewhere they say that they are looking for more opportunities to grow their business and enrichment is an obvious conclusion from that.
I have not had any reply from GE so they could also be a wild card.
I don't think I am going to get any more info that could help us now, but if I do will post for you.
Update on my research.
Posted: May 8 2006, 03:29 PM
SWP
Just had some more information which now makes me think that Cameco are the front runners.
All signs are now that Cameco will be the commercial partner for SLX. New information is that GA will not be making a bid because they have eyes on taking over USEC who are financially strapped. GA are also part of the consortia building the Lead Cascades for USEC.
That only leaves GE as the wild card.
Why cameco.
They are one of the Worlds biggest N players and the only area that they are not in is U enrichment. They have stated that they want to get into enrichment. The delay in SLX announcements is because everything they do has to be run through the Protocol treaty and be approved by both the US and OZ govts first. That takes time and is outside of the control of the companies. (look how long it took to get Condeleza Rice to allow DD to begin.
Cameco are Canadian. The treaty also says (article 3) that any use of SLX laser enrichment outside of the USA will need an amendment to the treaty.
Howard is in Washington now and then going on to Canada. It is all top level Govt stuff.
Expect an announcement this week which will name Cameco and Howard and Bush signing amendments to the treaty. The timing is close to what SLX have said.
SLX Price at posting:
38.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)
