Australia hopes to cash in on uranium boom
Monday, 6 December 2010
LONDON, Dec 5 (Commodity Online): India's hunger for nuclear power and China's overdrive to establish new nuclear power plants are being curiously watched by Australia as they plan to cash in on the new-found boom in uranium trade.
Australia is one of the major producers of uranium in the world and the increased demand for uranium from India and China has alerted several mining companies. They are now planning to step up mining operations to produce more of the metal to meet the rising demand.
The Queensland government is eyeing to make use of this demand. Queensland has known uranium resources of around 61.4 million kilograms (135 million pounds), worth about $10 billion.
All the signs are there that nuclear will grow because of its low emissions footprint, and as the world looks to ways to reduce emissions, so they will turn to nuclear increasingly.
Australia's abundance of coal and gas, government commitments to carbon capture and storage, and a wealth of renewable resources probably means the nation will not build nuclear power stations for the foreseeable future.
Australia could play a role providing uranium for peaceful purposes to those nations not blessed with Australia's resources.
The Queensland Resources Council has called the federal ALP members to push the government to overrule the states on uranium mining.
Australia is one of the major producers of uranium in the world and the increased demand for uranium from India and China has alerted several mining companies. They are now planning to step up mining operations to produce more of the metal to meet the rising demand.
The Queensland government is eyeing to make use of this demand. Queensland has known uranium resources of around 61.4 million kilograms (135 million pounds), worth about $10 billion.
All the signs are there that nuclear will grow because of its low emissions footprint, and as the world looks to ways to reduce emissions, so they will turn to nuclear increasingly.
Australia's abundance of coal and gas, government commitments to carbon capture and storage, and a wealth of renewable resources probably means the nation will not build nuclear power stations for the foreseeable future.
Australia could play a role providing uranium for peaceful purposes to those nations not blessed with Australia's resources.
The Queensland Resources Council has called the federal ALP members to push the government to overrule the states on uranium mining.