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A year after Fukushima meltdown, uranium prices level off

Uranium prices are leveling off around fifty dollars per pound; the stabilization comes after prices dropped considerably in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi power plant meltdown.
 
The disaster one year ago caused uranium spot prices to drop from around $70 per pound to $50. However, experts say they expect the uranium market to be balanced once again in the next year.
 
Ken Vaughnof Cameco Resources, says unstable prices over the last year have not changed the company’s plans 

to open three, new in-situ uranium mines in the state.

"After Fukushima last year our senior management made the comment that we still had great faith in the long term future of the nuclear energy industry and that we're still committed to our goals of doubling our production by 2018. That remains true today.

"
 
Cameco’s three new operations are currently winding 

through the permitting process.

In addition,

 Vaughn says they’re working on expanding their processing capabilities at the Smith Ranch – Highland facility which is already in operation
while another company, Peninsula Energy, is planning to start construction on a mine in northeast Wyoming.
Irina Zhorov is a reporter for Wyoming Public Radio. She earned her BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MFA from the University of Wyoming. In between, she worked as a photographer and writer for Philadelphia-area and national publications. Her professional interests revolve around environmental and energy reporting and she's reported on mining issues from Wyoming, Mexico, and Bolivia. She's been supported by the Dick and Lynn Cheney Grant for International Study, the Eleanor K. Kambouris Grant, and the Social Justice Research Center Research Grant for her work on Bolivian mining and Uzbek alpinism. Her work has appeared on Voice of America, National Native News, and in Indian Country Today, among other publications.