On March 11, 2011, the northeast coast of Japan was shaken by a massive undersea earthquake rated 9.0 on the Richter scale and the resulting tsunami. This was naturally the most intense earthquake in modern history that Japan has faced.
This mega undersea earthquake caused a huge tsunami, which hit the shore some 46 minutes later, causing ample flooding along the coastline. Some towns and market complexes were hit with this natural 'twin' disaster (earthquake plus tsunami), also affecting some nuclear plant sites, namely Tokai, Higashi Dori, Onagawa, Fukushima Dai-ichi and Fukushima Dai-ni. Among the nuclear power plant sites that experienced this natural disaster, the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant site - a nuclear involved of six reactors - was the most severely affected, with more than 14-meter-high tsunami waves lashing this complex.
Actually, even this massive earthquake did not damage the Fukushima nuclear plant. After all, nuclear plants are built to withstand severe earthquakes - and that is exactly what happened here, too. The nuclear plant did not suffer structural damage because of the earthquake. Nevertheless, the huge earthquake caused loss of electricity from the grid to the plant. At the time of the natural disaster, there were three reactors under doing at the plant site, while three were under maintenance. Immediately, upon loss of off-site power, the reactors were automatically brought to a safe shutdown state, as designed, and core reactor cooling was established with power from onsite emergency diesel generators. But the tsunami that followed soon flooded the plant premises, knocking out the onsite emergency diesel generators, too. It was only after this second blow that the things turned tough.
The decay heat emitted by the fission products is a very small fraction of the reactor full power, but this is still a essential number of heat, which needs to be dissipated away. Efforts were initiated for implementing alternative means to achieve cooling for the reactor cores as well as for spent-fuel warehouse pools. The residual heat in the reactor core during the intervening duration caused elevated temperatures. At higher temperatures, there was a essential build-up of steam pressure. To relax inordinate pressure, some controlled venting was resorted to. The higher temperatures also caused metal-water reaction, important to the formation of hydrogen gas, which exploded in the prevailing heat to cause the damage to the roof of the outer concrete containment structure, while inadequate cooling also lead to a partial melting of the fuel rods. This resulted in some publish of radioactivity, which is more of a diffused nature - but there has not been an "en masse" publish of radioactivity.
The hydrogen-gas explosion was a 'chemical' reaction, and Not a 'nuclear' explosion as misunderstood by many. Also, it should be noted that the fabricate of nuclear reactors is such that they cannot explode like nuclear bombs. In order to understand nuclear power better, it is essential to know the facts.
One more distinguished fact is that even this nuclear plant of old vintage (almost 40-year-old) handled this unprecedented earthquake perfectly well until the huge tsunami arrived. That means if this natural disaster had only been a land-based earthquake, with no together with tsunami, then the onsite emergency power generators would not have suffered and this Fukushima disaster would not have occurred at all!
A uncomplicated (and Brief) Explanation of What Happened at FukushimaInterviewer:
Before we talk about the potential of uranium shortages and the steep price rise in that energy source, could you explain how you got started with this idea, and what is the doctrine behind Strathmore's acquisition program of uranium properties?
Dev Randhawa:
Several years ago, Strathmore Minerals started with the idea of acquiring properties "out of the money" at very cheap prices in the confidence that the uranium prices would recover so that our assets would be worth more. No one was paying attention to the commodity we chose: uranium. Strathmore Minerals is basically a call on the price of uranium. That's how we started the company. This strategy is similar to what Lumina Copper (Amex: Lcc) used and what Silver proper used. For example, the chairman of Silver proper Resources (Nasdaq: Ssri) is on our board of directors. Our first step was to buy every pound we could for as cheaply as possible. The second step is to buy asset that we think we can put into production. We are actively seeing for those.
Interviewer:
But uranium has a noteworthy environmental stigma. Why, then, are you enthusiastic about this type of energy source?
Dev Randhawa:
As with most people, when I began investigating uranium, I understanding this was bad stuff. I understanding of Three Mile Island and all things else. The more homework I did on this, the more I realized that nuclear power is clean and safe. That is primarily what uranium is used for now. It should be known that no one ever died at Three Mile Island. No one authentically died at Chernobyl. Yes, habitancy got sick. Compare that to coal or the oil spills in the fossil fuel sector, and the damage it has done to the environment. The problem is no one is championing nuclear energy. Frankly, the "greenies" have done a great job of burying the story. As I did homework, I found out France relies on nuclear power for about 78 to 80 percent of its electricity needs. I realized that somebody did a great job lobbying and built a very unhealthy photo toward uranium, when authentically it's needed. We don't talk about the cost of coal. We don't talk about global warming. But, look at what coal has done. Global warming is a function of fossil fuels. That is why you are seeing a growing unavoidable response to nuclear power. For example, one firm has applied to put a new nuclear reactor into the Us.
Interviewer:
To what do you attribute the recent, steep price rise in uranium?
Dev Randhawa:
Since last year, the price of uranium (U3O8) has climbed back steeply back up. At one point, the price was entertaining up about /pound per month. Uranium's price is more in line with the price of oil as opposed to other commodities. For a long time, we've only produced on the mean about 90 million pounds, when we needed 140 (million pounds). There's been an imbalance for a amount of years. This extra came from foreign sources, or from internal Us inventories. Since the 1980s, we've been using more uranium than we have been producing in the western world. As a result, the extra that we've needed has come from Russia, the Us government or list that utilities had.
Interviewer:
But most investors, let alone the consumer, don't know that uranium's spot price has nearly tripled, since bottoming three years ago. Why is that?
Dev Randhawa:
Uranium only makes up one percent of the cost of running a nuclear reactor. The biggest factor in why uranium prices can go up, even more rapidly than gold, is that uranium is insensitive to its use. Uranium prices can go much higher. In casual conversations with a few Toronto analysts, some believe it can go up to or 0/pound. For example, if the price of gold tomorrow went to 0/ounce, it will sway someone's purchasing decision. The guy might say, "I was going to buy this ring and now it's up 70 percent because the price of gold is up. Maybe I will buy a silver ring instead." The same occurs with other commodities. habitancy may convert their purchasing decision based on a commodity price doubling.
If the price of uranium went to /pound, the mean consumer's electricity bill might go up a few dollars. It is not going to force person to turn off their power. However, if the price of oil doubled tomorrow, many of us would be driving smaller vehicles. It would make a fundamental variation in how we behave. That's not going to happen with the price of uranium. It's like buying pencils for your office. It's not going to convert the way you do business. Even if no nuclear reactors come onboard for the next few years, the ones already there will need the pounds (of uranium). We have a shortage advent up.
Interviewer:
Why do you believe a uranium shortage is in the cards?
Dev Randhawa:
Bottom line is: the nuclear reactors are going to run out of fuel. You have to know that permitting takes a long time in the uranium industry. It's not like seeing a gold asset tomorrow and maybe two years from now you are pouring gold. Typically, the permit takes at least three years out. Because nuclear reactors need it, that's what is causing the price rise. Inquire has kept going higher, but production has fallen off the chart. In this business there are only about half a dozen clubs exploring for uranium. At one time, back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, there were approximately 150 uranium companies. There hasn't been any incommunicable mining since the early 1990s. And that doesn't even comprise a wild card: there has been talk that by 2020, 90 percent of the nuclear reactors advent onboard will be for China.
Interviewer:
And what would reverse uranium's steep price rise?
Dev Randhawa:
The only thing that could kill this shop would be if Russia discovered it had a lot more pounds to sell. Or the Us government, straight through Useg, came up with more pounds. When we first entered the market, eight years ago uranium rose to nearby -/pound. Then it fell. What happened was the U.S. Government sold their uranium to a incommunicable group, who turned nearby and dumped it into the market, from then until last year. In October of last year, the Russians were also dumping uranium onto the shop for their hard cash.
Interviewer:
If change value for uranium comes in the form of exploration costs to find and mine this energy source, what would that cost be?
Dev Randhawa:
Realistically, it would be to /pound. I know some are going to say they can do it for less. By the time you take your exploration costs, improvement costs, and so on, you authentically need to get to for most properties to go into production and still make money. That's why most of what you see in the shop are Isl (in situ leach) projects. On one asset we discovered, it would cost between and / pound to pull it out of the ground. But on others, it might take - 22/pound to pull it out of the ground, after labor costs and sell it on a transmit contract. Canada is producing the most uranium because of the grades. Some say Canada has the lowest cost, but that's not quite accurate. What they mean to say is that the cash costs are the lowest. habitancy forget that it costs up to billion to put some of these into production. Cameco (Nyse: Ccj) was a beast of the government at one time. They were treated that way.
Interviewer:
Earlier you noted that investing in Strathmore Minerals was "basically a call on the price of uranium." Can you explain what you meant by that?
Dev Randhawa:
As uranium prices, the share price of Strathmore Minerals should rise. If you look at Bema (Amex:Bgo), when gold prices were at 5/ounce, what was it worth? As the price of gold moved up, it had value. Has it gone into production yet? No. Silver proper (Nasdaq:Ssri) is similar, but it has had to tell its story because habitancy are so focused on gold. The key for investors is not to go where the crowds go, but to go where you can find value. If you believe that nuclear power is the place to be, and the shortage is real, you have got to own uranium stocks.
Interviewer:
What sets Strathmore Minerals apart from any other exploration clubs in this sector?
Dev Randhawa:
I challenge any junior exploration firm to show an individual who has authentically put an Isl (in situ leach) uranium mine into production, along with Cameco. They just aren't nearby because the business has been dead since the early 1980s. There aren't many experts left in this business. The last standing geologist, which Cogema had, was David Miller, who is now working with Strathmore Minerals, as our head consultant. He is the one who has put the Strathmore strategy together. We've been seeing in southern and eastern Africa. Strathmore is going wherever there are pounds that others have overlooked. Our contentious edge is a database we acquired from Kerr McGee (Nyse: Kmd), which used to be amount one in the uranium industry. Recently, we announced properties in Wyoming that could be satellite Isls. We have enough pounds there that we could throw one of them into production. But we still need higher prices. We are still in the acquisition stage.
Strathmore is going to be very aggressive in picking up properties that we think have pounds in the ground or smaller properties that we think can be Isl-able in the Us. all things we're seeing at in the Us is for Isl. In Canada, we have over 700,000 hectares in the Athabascan region. That's a major asset for us. It's one of the richest areas in the world for uranium. Some of our targets are near existing mines. In Quebec, we've got a large asset that was drilled by Uranerz. Robert Quartermain has authentically been a part of that strategy. That's what he did with Silver Standard, and that's what we're doing here. We are aggressively going after properties. When sophisticated investors meet our team, they see the story we've got and they see our management. You'll see why we were able to millions of dollars in financings. Our strategy has been to buy the has-been properties, the low fruit in all the trees. And that's what we've been doing.
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Devinder Randhawa
Mr. Randhawa founded Strathmore Minerals Corp. In 1996 and is currently the Company's Ceo. Mr. Randhawa also founded and is currently the President of Rd Capital Inc., a conspiratorially held consulting firm providing venture capital and corporate finance services to emerging clubs in the resources and non-resource sectors both in Canada and the Us. Prior to founding Rd Capital Inc., Mr. Randhawa was in the brokerage business for 6 years as an venture counselor and corporate finance analyst. Mr. Randhawa was at one time the President of Lariat Capital Inc. Which merged with Medicure in November 1999 and the was the founder and former President and Ceo of Royal County Minerals Corp. Which was taken over by Canadian Gold Hunter (formerly International Curator) in July 2003. Mr. Randhawa also founded Predator Capital Inc., which became Predator Exploration. Mr. Randhawa received a Bachelors Degree in firm management with Honors from Trinity Western College of Langley, British Columbia in 1983 and received his Masters in firm management from the University of British Columbia in 1985.
Copyright © 2007 by StockInterview, Inc. All rights Reserved.
A 'Call' On The Price of Uranium?The vigor available from the sun is remarkably of a formidable nature. In truth, the sun provides adequate solar vigor on the Earth in one day to power the whole vigor needs of the world for a whole year. This high potential is what makes solar power one of the best clean alternative vigor sources.
Unfortunately, however, solar vigor companies have not yet been able to push past some of the principal limitations linked to harnessing the sun's vigor for power. While there have been exceptional developments, such as the creation of more productive panel systems and the integration with molten salt technology, solar vigor developers are still struggling to find long term and permanent solutions to the constraints of this alternative source of energy.
But population working to bring solar vigor into the mainstream do not only need to enounce with the problems linked to the power source but also with the other alternative sources of vigor that may have advantages over solar power.
One such competitor would be the companies invested in nuclear power. Despite some criticisms concerning its safety, nuclear vigor remains a adored option by many to supply electricity needs. As a matter of fact, there are at gift 439 nuclear power reactors in doing in 31 countries all over the world. Proponents of nuclear vigor enounce that it is a sustainable vigor source that reduces carbon emissions significantly and that the protection issues are now being addressed straight through new technology. With this, it may just give solar vigor companies a run for their money if there continues to be a lull in the amelioration of solar power.
Another contender is geothermal power. These kinds of power plants have already proven to be very marvelous and productive in extracting renewable vigor from the Earth straight through natural processes. Further, the fact that it can be performed on a small scale--providing heat for one residential unit--or on a very large scale and can generate adequate power to fully supply for both makes it a tough competitor in the race to supply a fully industrial and mainstream alternative source of vigor in the near future.
Wind power is also other source of energy, which is roughly always compared to solar power. The use of wind turbines to supply electricity or mechanical vigor is precisely addition rapidly, doubling every year since 2005. Wind vigor companies seem keener to invest on this power source because the construction, maintenance, and transmission costs are relatively cheaper compared to building a solar power plant. Moreover, new technology has allowed for the revamping of the form of wind turbines into something more compact and less of an eye sore; a amelioration that makes the source more captivating to form and invest in.
Solar vigor companies need to keep up with the advancements that other alternative vigor companies have achieved. With such a great potential to be the leading and safest power source of the future, it would be such a pity if no solutions were found to overcome the dilemmas linked to its use.
Solar energy companies - How It Stacks Up to Competition