Just in time for the long weekend, here is the “*2007 Euratom Supply Agency Annual Report*”:http://ec.europa.eu/euratom/ar/last.pdf. I won’t pretend that I am very knowledgeable about the EU, but here are some points that caught my eye:
1. For the first time in many years, *Canada’s leading position in 2007 as a supplier of natural uranium to EU utilities was overtaken by Russia*, according to the declarations received from utilities.
2. *Natural uranium of Russian origin amounted to almost 5 144 tU*. Like explained in the previous reports, this last figure can be unreliable and would need more detailed analysis, as it would represent much more than Russia’s total production of natural uranium (3 381 tU according to the “Red Book”:http://www.totalwonkerr.net/1631/geek-check-part-deux).
3. *In the market for VVER fuel, the Russian supplier TVEL has now re-established a dominant position, which means in fact nearly 100 % market share.* (_The report later notes that “there is concern about the possible lack of alternative suppliers for VVER reactors in the future.”_)
4. *Deliveries of Russian separative work to EU utilities under purchasing contracts amounted to some 4528 tSWU which means a significant increase of some 1 500 tSWU (50% over 2006) and represents thus almost 31 % of the total enrichment services* supplied to EU utilities.
5. *Direct purchases from Kazakhstan have remained relatively low considering the production level and future potential of this country*. It is however expected that the amount of uranium from Kazakhstan will increase in coming years with the operation of various joint ventures.
According to a neat pie chart on pg. 22, *Russia supplied 24.65 % of U to EU utilities in 2007* (followed by Canada, Niger, and Australia). There is a nifty table in Annex 1 of the report that details Russian/CIS U supplies to the EU too.
If you want a quick fix of the report, check out this “WNN writeup”:http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/ENF-European_utilities_building_up_uranium_inventories-0307088.html.