Did you guys even read those posts ?20 years ago there was an...

Did you guys even read those posts ?

20 years ago there was an oversupply of Uranium from excess Russian inventory, and longer than expected mine life. People thought there would be enough U to go around for the foreseeable future. These days there's renewed interest from investors and miners due to recent production problems effecting the main U producers (Cameco, BHP, ERA) - which raises speculation that existing supplies will deplete soon - and Global Warming. This has caused spot prices to surge. From supply/demand dynamics those guys are forcasting that U will hit $90 in 2009, and $30 by 2016 from the ensuing supply response.

The 2nd post deals with reactor operating costs and new construction viability. The analysts're basically stipulating that spot U price increases have little effect on reactor operating costs in the medium term because most existing plants have locked-in contracts capped at $16/lb (before the recent surge in spot prices to $75/lb) for the signficant future eg. 10 years and therefor gives them an advantage over prospective new plants which have to pay more for their fuel. U3O8 would need to hit $625/lb before feasibility's an issue.

On the other hand prospective plants are faced with new challenges such as politics, budgeting, government incentives, build time and regulations; and therefor must plan/develop/select the most efficient and economical deployment. The problem is there currently isn't enough experience in the nuclear industry as the technology and engineering designs are still evolving.

Apparently Asia's embracing nuclear energy whilst Western countries are quibbling over viability. Heh.