I very much doubt that?
I don't believe they could get enough shares to do that? the top 20 shareholders have mostly been around for years and in some cases only added to their position, they are very tightly held, if the US want's the tech? they will have to pay for it, but there could be a very good reason for them to get as many cheapies as they can while the can, because it would have to save them a lot of money going forward when they will have to pay a great deal more for them, but they won't be getting any of mine anytime soon, I can't believe why people would be selling below cash and asset backing anyway?
Besides, the stuff we licensed to IQE will make us money soon anyway, it will be the cream on top of what the Silex process will make us, I believe the US will have to buy the technology? mainly because the deal that was struck all of those years ago is now, is not as attractive as what it first appeared to be, I doubt there would be enough incentive for Silex to go on at these Uranium prices, and like I said the catch 22 will mean that the Uranium prices will fall again once the US stops buying Uranium, so what's in it for us?
12% of not much is still not much!
Silex is only one very small cog in the scheme of things, but if the US want's to have the best then they will have to pay up eventually or their whole program will stall. OK they might go centrifuge? but that will cost them a great deal more to build and it will take longer and it won't be as good or efficient as the LIS technology anyway, I reckon we are sitting in the box seat.
BTW, I believe the reason they chose the PRISM reactor for their test reactor at INL, was to show the UK a working model of a plant that can help the UK get rid of it's Plutonium stockpile and it is also a fast reactor as well so it can also test these new fuels? I also wouldn't mind betting that some of that 23 tons of Plutonium that was originally destined for the MOX facility at SRS will now end up in that PRISM reactor at INL, what's the bet?
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