SARASOTA, Fla., Oct. 17, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- A 90-percent U.S. dependence on foreign uranium puts New York, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, Detroit and Miami at risk for electricity blackouts and brownouts over the next four years, perhaps longer. Senior contributing editor of Investing in the Great Uranium Bull Market (StockInterview: 2006) David R. Miller foresees a global uranium shortage over the next decade which could jeopardize re-fueling operations at the country's 103 nuclear reactors. "Without building one more nuclear reactor, the uranium supply is just not there," said Miller, who is also a geological consultant for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Nuclear ambitions by North Korea, Iran and more than two dozen other countries announcing plans or already constructing nuclear power plants have squeezed the uranium price higher by 800 percent the past five years. Some believe the price of uranium could double again because of aggressive Chinese and Russian accumulation of the essential mineral for powering nuclear reactors. Australia may be in the process of changing its uranium mining ban because of China. Russia is now creating an 'international super center' to supply Europe, Japan and the Middle East with enriched uranium. "U.S. utilities are getting squeezed out of the picture," warned Miller, echoing sentiments of other industry experts.
Addicted to uranium from dismantled Russian nuclear warheads -- which presently provide sufficient uranium to generate 1 in every 10 light bulbs in America -- U.S. utilities face a loss of that uranium in 2013. This past July, Presidents Bush and Putin mutually agreed to not extend the HEU-LEU deal beyond that date. U.S. utilities haven't yet found sufficient supplies to make up the difference. "Combined with an industry which has been in a 'uranium depression' for the past 25 years, utilities haven't developed reliable supply sources to guard against overseas disruptions," Miller said. He argues for the U.S. utility industry to cultivate the growing number of future domestic uranium producers now developing their projects in the western United States: Wyoming, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona and Utah.
In 2006, newly mined uranium supplied only 65 percent of the world's requirements for nuclear fuel. Depleting inventories made up the difference, but those supplies are running thin. Those U.S. cities most dependent upon nuclear energy will be hit the hardest, Miller pointed out. Without uranium in the pipeline to power nuclear reactors, U.S. utilities may be forced to close down some of the nation's 103 nuclear reactors. According to the Energy Information Administration, the aging U.S. nuclear fleet is running at about 90-percent capacity and providing about 20 percent of the country's electrical power generation.
Third-term Wyoming legislator and uranium expert David Miller is available for interviews as Senior Contributing Editor for the newly published 304-page book, Investing in the Great Uranium Bull Market (StockInterview: 2006). http://bookstore.stockinterview.com
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