16 Jan (NucNet): Initiatives to help the uranium industry share best practices, promote safety and environmental standards and transfer knowledge to a new generation of experts, will be in focus at an international symposium in the summer.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said yesterday that growing demand arising from the global �nuclear renaissance� and the resulting price increases for nuclear fuel have spurred greater investment in uranium exploration in an increasing number of countries.

The agency said �sound environmental management, training and education� would be needed to minimise the impact of uranium mining and production and to gain public acceptance of nuclear energy.

Issues ranging from exploration and mining to economics and the environment will be discussed in June 2009 at the International Symposium on Uranium Raw Material for the Nuclear Fuel Cycle* (URAM-2009), which will be hosted at the agency�s headquarters in Vienna, Austria.

Peter Waggitt, a consultant working for the IAEA�s nuclear fuel cycle and materials section, said that global expertise in uranium mining developed until the 1970s has been diminishing because experts who have retired have not been replaced.

The IAEA said: �The uranium industry has been revived and there has been a dramatic increase in uranium exploration and mining activities in several countries. The gap between the uranium demand and fresh supply from the mines is being filled at present by secondary supply.

�However, with decreasing availability of the secondary supply, the uranium resource base and production have to be increased. In addition, adequate services and expertise and modern technologies will be needed to ensure a sustainable supply of uranium raw materials to fuel both operating and future nuclear power reactors.�

IAEA initiatives in addition to URAM-2009 include:

� Helping agency member states in Africa, Central Asia and Latin America deal with the engineering, financial, legal and social aspects of uranium mining;

� Promoting the IAEA�s Uranium Production Site Appraisal Team (UPSAT) programme for peer reviews of mining operations;

� Cooperating with other international institutions � such as the World Nuclear Association (WNA) and publication of WNA policy document on global best practices in uranium mining and processing.

The latest edition of the so-called �Red Book� (�Uranium 2007: Resources, Production and Demand�), published in June 2008, said enough uranium is known to exist to fuel the world's fleet of nuclear reactors at current consumption rates for at least a century.

*Details about the symposium are on the IAEA�s website (http://www.iaea.org).

� by John Shepherd

>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)

Global Uranium Reserves �More Than Adequate� Beyond 2030 (News in Brief No. 24, 6 September 2007)

�Uranium Resources Sufficient For Long Into Future�, Says New Red Book (News in Brief No. 64, 3 June 2008)

The NucNet database currently contains around 12,000 reports published since 1991. To subscribe or ask for any further information email info@worldnuclear.org

Source: NucNet

Editor: editors@worldnuclear.org