Anna Kupriyanova, senior analyst of Analytical Studies Department of Uralsib-Capital LLC

– Atomredmetzoloto has a sufficient number of projects, so, for Russia the situation is quite positive

In 2009 uranium production in the world will grow by 11.5% — from 43,600 tons to almost 48,700 tons, Deputy Director General of Atomredmetzoloto OJSC (ARMZ) Alexander Boytsov said during MINEZ-09 conference. This forecast is based on ARMZ’s analysts and projections by the World Nuclear Association. Kazakhstan is showing the most dynamic growth in this field. However, despite its growth, uranium production is still unable to meet the global demand (58,000 tons a year) with the current demand being covered by stored and re-processed uranium. The key risks for the biggest uranium projects are financial, technological and political problems. ARMZ reports that by 2020 the uranium industry will be able to fully meet the needs of the nuclear sector but after 2025 it may run short of resources and face stagnation.

I think that this, first of all, concerns Atomredmetzoloto and its projects. ARMZ is co-investors in a number of projects in Kazakhstan, has one big deposit in Russia and plans in Africa and elsewhere. It is hard to calculate secondary and weapons-grade resources – this is very specific and closed information. As far as I know, we are not short of uranium. Quite the opposite, the share of the global primary consumption will grow and preference will be given to the accumulation of additional resources over the consumption of existing ones. The production growth forecasts are higher than the consumption growth projections. So, the gap between production and consumption will narrow.

Russia is one of the key players on this market. Atomredmetzoloto has a sufficient number of projects, so, for Russia the situation is quite positive.

Experts say hat by 2030 the global demand for uranium will grow by 59% to 104,000 tons. According to the moderate scenario, the demand will grow to 98,800 tons. WNA says that in 20 years the number of operating nuclear reactors will grow by 88%. The leaders will be China and India. The global nuclear power capacities will grow by 119%. In Russia the capacities will grow by 2.5 times. For the moment, there are 436 nuclear reactors in the world – they generate 15% of total energy. The leaders are the United States, France, Japan and Russia. 50 reactors are under construction for the moment: 16 in China, 9 in Russia, 6 in India and 5 in South Korea.