“Producers around the world need to see some signs of higher spot prices over the next few months to press the button for new projects,”, Sebastien de Montessus, director of Areva’s mining business unit, said. “With a spot price at $40 there are already some existing mines that cannot produce, so you can imagine for new projects it is simply impossible. The market price has to go up to $70 to $80.”
After 2015, the uranium market may face a production deficit because demand from India, China and the Middle East has been underestimated, De Montessus said. Nuclear power, presently with 436 reactors operating, provides about 15% of the world’s electricity and there are 45 plants under construction, the World Nuclear Association said.
