Comment: No to uranium mining and milling!
MARKETSMARCH 14, 2011, 1:21 P.M. ET.
By EDWARD WELSCH
CALGARY—Uranium stocks sank Monday after several Japanese reactors overheated, stoking fears of partial meltdowns, as a result of last week's earthquake and tsunami.
The Japanese government said Monday that the fuel rods in one reactor have fused together in a partial meltdown. A partial meltdown occurs when uranium fuel begins to melt under high temperatures, but still remains contained within the reactor. The 1979 Three Mile Island accident in the U.S. was a partial meltdown. In a full meltdown, such as the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the Soviet Union, the rods melt completely and the release of energy causes an explosion that contaminates the surrounding area with radioactive material.
Shares of Cameco Corp., the world's largest publicly owned uranium mining company, dropped 16% to $31.29 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Denison Mines Corp. shares dropped 26%.
Uranium One Inc. shares dropped 28% and Australia's Bannerman Resources Ltd. dropped 19% in recent Toronto trading.
In the U.S., some lawmakers have begun calling for curbs on nuclear power development. Rep. Edward Markey (D., Mass) issued a statement Sunday calling for a moratorium on the construction of new nuclear power plants in the U.S., saying that a similar nuclear accident could happen there.
Shares of Southern Co., which is building two nuclear power plants in Georgia—the first new reactors in the U.S. in decades—declined 1.7% in recent trading, while shares of General Electric Co., which built the Japanese reactors, declined 3%.
So far, the three Japanese reactors experiencing cooling problems haven't released significant amounts of radiation, but the situation is dangerous, as an explosion Monday morning in Japan damaged a pump bringing in cooling seawater at one reactor and a third reactor began experiencing cooling problems Monday afternoon.
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704893604576200542360681586.html
