Abstract

G. Wippel "Overview of Uranium Activities in Africa / Global Uranium Activities" 

In 2007 / 2008, the price of uranium rose sharply - and exploration companies started raiding many countries, including nearly every country in Africa, to find new uranium deposits. A number of projects were announced, and some even started producing U3O8, but theprice rapidly fell again. In 2011, the Fukushima incident brought some 50 nuclear power plants (more than 10% of the worldwide nuclear ´fleet´) to a halt - also cutting down demand for uranium. We will explore what happened to the projects announced and to the companies involved. AREVA suffered seriously, CAMECO is in a court case re: tax evasion. Lately, the biggest producer of commercial nuclear power plants was close to bankruptcy, and on July 13, ROSATOM announced the company  will reconsider its focus on nuclear. What might the future bring? Which developments can be observed?