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Cameco to supply 7 million pounds of uranium to India
Apr 15, 10:55 pm
Ottawa, Apr. 15 (ANI): World's largest uranium producer, Cameco Corporation, on Wednesday confirmed that as per the nuclear agreement signed between India and Canada, the company would be supplying seven million pounds of uranium to the country over the next five years.
Cameco's Chief Executive Officer, Tim Gitzel, said that the first deliveries of uranium would be made later this year.
"So the agreement really covers aboutseven million pounds of uranium over a five year period until 2020. First deliveries will be later this year and the pricing is based on the market price for uranium, which is published price at the time of delivery, so we will see what that will be. I will say that the contract is worth 100's of millions dollars over the five year period," said Gitzel, in an exclusive interview with ANI.
"The negotiations have been going on for years, we had to have the nuclear cooperation agreement in place, that was put in place two years ago, since then we have been trying to finalise the contract. By signing the contract today, it was the commutation of a lot of work for many years," he added.
Lauding Prime Minister Modi's statement, wherein he called the uranium deal not a matter of 'give and take' but of 'trust', Gitzel dubbed the deal as a building block for the future of the two countries.
"Prime Minister Modi put it best when he said it's not just commodities that we are dealing with when talking about uranium, it's the show of faith and trust between the two countries and it is really a building block for the future. It was a very exciting day for us and our country, a big day for both Canada and India," Gitzel said.
The Cameco CEO further said that Prime Minister Modi's visit to Canada, the fist in many decades, reflected signs of good faith. He further stressed on the importance of clean energy.
"Well it's very safe, we have been operating nuclear plants since 50 years, and there are 400 reactors in the world operating safely, providing safe, clean, reliable, base load electricity and the clean part is something that is very important. We know in India, China, Canada, US it is important everywhere," said Gitzel.
"We think nuclear power is part of the solution, we know countries are still going to use fossil fuels and other sources of electricity, but we think nuclear has a role and we think India is well on the path to increasing it use of nuclear power," he said.
"The fact that the two countries were able to conclude a nuclear cooperation agreement two years ago, which governs the relationship with respect to nuclear matter is important and that then allowed us to sign the contract for sale of uranium. So it's a big step forward," he added.
Furthermore, Gitzel said that the corporation would be building a new mine in Canada, which would generate employment opportunities for the local, aboriginal people.
"It will certainly sustain jobs that we have, we have mines that are operating in Canada, we are just building up a new mine in Canada called Cigar lake, its world class large mine, we employ a lot of aboriginal people, 50 percent of our work force are local, aboriginal people. So those are really important jobs for Canada," he said.
"It will really sustain those jobs and as we build our relationship with India, we would look at investing more money in new mines, to be able to supply in with their needs," he added.
On being asked as to whether the company would be inspecting sites in India for security issues, the Cameco CEO said that such matters would be looked after by the Canadian Government.
"We let the Canadian Government do that under the nuclear cooperation agreement. That is really the responsibility of the Canadian Government," he said.
"We work closely with our customers and our partners. In India we have representation their on the ground which are very helpful to us and so I have been over there several times and our people are over there all the time," he added.
India and Canada struck a uranium supply deal earlier in the day. The Canadian Government later confirmed that the deal is worth $280 million.
By Smita Prakash (ANI)
Cameco to supply 7 million pounds of uranium to India , AniNews.in
Apr 15, 10:55 pm
Ottawa, Apr. 15 (ANI): World's largest uranium producer, Cameco Corporation, on Wednesday confirmed that as per the nuclear agreement signed between India and Canada, the company would be supplying seven million pounds of uranium to the country over the next five years.
Cameco's Chief Executive Officer, Tim Gitzel, said that the first deliveries of uranium would be made later this year.
"So the agreement really covers aboutseven million pounds of uranium over a five year period until 2020. First deliveries will be later this year and the pricing is based on the market price for uranium, which is published price at the time of delivery, so we will see what that will be. I will say that the contract is worth 100's of millions dollars over the five year period," said Gitzel, in an exclusive interview with ANI.
"The negotiations have been going on for years, we had to have the nuclear cooperation agreement in place, that was put in place two years ago, since then we have been trying to finalise the contract. By signing the contract today, it was the commutation of a lot of work for many years," he added.
Lauding Prime Minister Modi's statement, wherein he called the uranium deal not a matter of 'give and take' but of 'trust', Gitzel dubbed the deal as a building block for the future of the two countries.
"Prime Minister Modi put it best when he said it's not just commodities that we are dealing with when talking about uranium, it's the show of faith and trust between the two countries and it is really a building block for the future. It was a very exciting day for us and our country, a big day for both Canada and India," Gitzel said.
The Cameco CEO further said that Prime Minister Modi's visit to Canada, the fist in many decades, reflected signs of good faith. He further stressed on the importance of clean energy.
"Well it's very safe, we have been operating nuclear plants since 50 years, and there are 400 reactors in the world operating safely, providing safe, clean, reliable, base load electricity and the clean part is something that is very important. We know in India, China, Canada, US it is important everywhere," said Gitzel.
"We think nuclear power is part of the solution, we know countries are still going to use fossil fuels and other sources of electricity, but we think nuclear has a role and we think India is well on the path to increasing it use of nuclear power," he said.
"The fact that the two countries were able to conclude a nuclear cooperation agreement two years ago, which governs the relationship with respect to nuclear matter is important and that then allowed us to sign the contract for sale of uranium. So it's a big step forward," he added.
Furthermore, Gitzel said that the corporation would be building a new mine in Canada, which would generate employment opportunities for the local, aboriginal people.
"It will certainly sustain jobs that we have, we have mines that are operating in Canada, we are just building up a new mine in Canada called Cigar lake, its world class large mine, we employ a lot of aboriginal people, 50 percent of our work force are local, aboriginal people. So those are really important jobs for Canada," he said.
"It will really sustain those jobs and as we build our relationship with India, we would look at investing more money in new mines, to be able to supply in with their needs," he added.
On being asked as to whether the company would be inspecting sites in India for security issues, the Cameco CEO said that such matters would be looked after by the Canadian Government.
"We let the Canadian Government do that under the nuclear cooperation agreement. That is really the responsibility of the Canadian Government," he said.
"We work closely with our customers and our partners. In India we have representation their on the ground which are very helpful to us and so I have been over there several times and our people are over there all the time," he added.
India and Canada struck a uranium supply deal earlier in the day. The Canadian Government later confirmed that the deal is worth $280 million.
By Smita Prakash (ANI)
Cameco to supply 7 million pounds of uranium to India , AniNews.in
