KEPCO scraps two uranium exploration deals

SEOUL, March 2 (Yonhap) --Korea Electric Power Corp., South Korea's state-run
electricity company, said Monday it has canceled two preliminary deals to develop
uranium mines in the U.S. and Slovakia due to a plunge in uranium prices.

In May of last year, KEPCO signed a preliminary deal with Yellowcake Mining Inc.,
a U.S. uranium explorer, to jointly explore the Beck uranium mine in Colorado.
In the same month, the utility also concluded a memorandum of understanding with
Tournigan Energy Ltd., formerly Tournigan Gold Corp., a Canadian uranium
explorer, to tap a mine in Kurisokva, Slovakia.
The cancellation of the two deals was attributable to a sharp drop in uranium
prices, the company said. The price of uranium fell to about US$47 per pound last
month after it rose to $135 per pound at one point in 2007.
Instead, KEPCO has decided to push for the purchase of uranium mines in
development or production stages in Australia, South Africa and Kazakhstan.
KEPCO, however, will continue to go ahead with the exploration of a uranium block
in Saskatchewan Province, Canada, as it has already launched the exploration, it
said.
In January of last year, KEPCO signed a deal with Canadian uranium explorer
Fission Energy Corp. to explore the block between 2008 and 2011.
South Korea, the world's sixth-largest uranium consumer, requires 4,000 tons of
uranium annually to run 20 nuclear power plants, KEPCO said.
ksnam@yna.co.kr
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