GE has its money back from its enrichment game

Canadian co. joins GE Hitachi uranium enrichment partnership
June 20, 2008
HARTFORD, Conn.—A Canadian uranium producer has joined a venture of GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy to commercially enrich uranium for nuclear power plants, the companies announced Friday.
Cameco Corp., a uranium producer based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, will invest $123.8 million to acquire a 24 percent stake in the venture, Global Laser Enrichment. General Electric will hold 51 percent and Hitachi will own 25 percent.
Enriching uranium is a key part of producing fuel for light water nuclear power plants.
Fairfield-based General Electric Co. and Tokyo-based Hitachi Ltd. launched a joint nuclear business in July 2007 to capitalize on rising demand for electricity and concerns about carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired plants.
The rapidly rising price of oil has brought renewed attention to nuclear energy, which has been sidelined over safety concerns. On Wednesday, Arizona Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, called for construction of 45 nuclear reactors by 2030.
The Wilmington, N.C.-based GE Hitachi said in announcing the Cameco deal that utilities will need to build between 20 and 25 reactors by 2030 to maintain the 20 percent of U.S. energy now produced by nuclear power. There are now 104 licensed nuclear reactors operating in the United States.
"We do think there are a lot of opportunities for our business," said Lisa Price, a senior vice president at GE Hitachi. "We think the environment is attractive for nuclear."
Startup of a commercial enrichment facility at GE Hitachi's headquarters is projected for 2012, "assuming commercialization goes as we hope after the testing phase," Price said.
Potential customers for the GE Hitachi-Cameco venture are not only reactors that GE Hitachi may build, but any utility with a nuclear reactor, Price said.