Cameco Corporation, the world’s second-largest producer of uranium after Rio Tinto, is setting up shop in India.
The Canadian firm — the world’s largest publicly traded uranium company which accounted for 15 per cent of global production last year — plans to open a marketing office in Hyderabad on October 1.
Both India and Canada are currently working on advancing the nuclear cooperation agreement that is under discussion and a final pact is “on the horizon”, Government officials said.
Uranium supplies
Besides Canada, India has been actively working on firming up uranium supply agreement with a number of other countries over the last couple of years. The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) had signed a contract with Areva in December 2008 for supply of 300 tonnes of uranium concentrates.
DAE also signed contracts for long-term supply of 2,000 tonnes of natural uranium pellets with the Russian state-owned fuel monopoly TVEL. Kazakhstan and Namibia are also among the countries discussing fuel and equipment supply contracts.
Rio Tinto Group was the world’s largest uranium producer and accounted for 18 per cent of global uranium production in 2008, while French firm Areva was third with a 14 per cent share of global production, according to the World Nuclear Association data. Canada was the world’s largest producer of uranium in 2008, followed by Kazakhstan and Australia.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/09/14/stories/2009091451110100.htm
