Newswise — As fossil fuel prices continue to skyrocket, electricity shortages become more prevalent, global warming moves from theory to accepted fact, and energy issues emerge as our great national challenge, the time has come to reconsider nuclear power as an economical and sustainable energy source.
Uranium (atomic symbol U) is a common heavy element found in rocks and seawater; its primary commercial use is to provide fuel for nuclear power reactors that generate electricity. A safe, sustainable energy source that reduces carbon emissions and improves energy security by diminishing dependence on foreign oil, nuclear energy suggests some staggering statistics: the energy in one uranium fuel pellet, roughly the size of one's fingertip, is the equivalent of seventeen thousand cubic feet of natural gas, 1,780 pounds of coal, or 149 gallons of oil. One ton of natural uranium can produce forty million kilowatt-hours of electricity, the equivalent of burning sixteen thousand tons of coal or eight thousand barrels of oil.
With figures such as these, it should come as no surprise that fully 17% of all the world's electricity is generated from nuclear reactors, with 439 nuclear power reactors in operation around the world today in some thirty-one countries. In France, nearly 80% of electrical energy comes from nuclear reactors. Surprisingly, however, America lags behind when it comes to utilizing this relatively clean and sustainable energy source. Moreover, the existing global supply of uranium does not meet current demand.
Misconceptions surrounding nuclear energy stem from 1979's Three Mile Island incident near Middletown, Pennsylvania, and 1986's Chernobyl disaster in the former Soviet Union. The Three Mile Island meltdown resulted in neither fatalities nor injuries to plant workers or members of the nearby community, and engendered more stringent oversight from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Chernobyl, however, was a different story: the plant's complete core breach meltdown and partial reactor detonation ejected swaths of radioactive material over a large portion of Europe, caused at least thirty-one deaths, and precipitated the evacuation of 135,000 residents across an eighteen-mile radius.
"Perception is a powerful thing, and in the wake of these twin events, popular imagination linked nuclear energy with deadly radioactive waste and concomitant Cold War era fears," says Paul Leslie Hammond, a former treasurer of Greenpeace, Canada, and current CEO and President of Bancroft Uranium Inc., an emerging, Canada-based mining company focused on the exploration and development of previously identified and undeveloped uranium properties. "As a result, American support for nuclear energy waned, with the last commercial nuclear reactor going online in February 1996. Thirty years after Three Mile Island and images out of The China Syndrome, however, a new day has dawned for nuclear energy in North America."
Topics for discussion include:
"¢ How does uranium provide fuel for nuclear power reactors?"¢ How does nuclear energy compare to oil, coal, natural gas, and other alternative energies?"¢ Why might some have knee-jerk reactions against nuclear energy?"¢ What precautions and regulatory measures have been taken since the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl episodes to prevent such incidents in the future?
About Paul Leslie Hammond, B.A., C.A., CEO & President Bancroft Uranium Inc.
Paul Leslie Hammond has had extensive experience in international corporate finance related to mergers and acquisitions and has dealt with the major capital markets in New York, London and Toronto. He is a graduate of Simon Fraser University and a Chartered Accountant. He has held Chairman, Director, President, and Chief Executive Officer positions in various companies, some of which were listed on NASDAQ and the Toronto Stock Exchange. He has held senior executive operating positions in telecommunications, computer retailing, real estate development, financial services, brewery operations, transportation and mining. These projects were conducted in Europe, North and Central America, the United Kingdom, Western Africa, New Zealand, South East Asia, and China. For the past fifteen years he has acted as an investment banker assisting companies with acquisitions, financing, sales and distribution, turnarounds, improvement of management depth, corporate governance and reporting and compliance issues.
About Bancroft Uranium Inc.Bancroft Uranium is an emerging junior mining company traded on the Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board Exchange (OTCBB, symbol: BCFT). Bancroft is focused on the exploration and development of previously identified, historically significant, yet undeveloped known uranium properties. Bancroft controls an extensive regional play totaling over 9,000 acres in Ontario Canada that are prospective for uranium. The company is led by a highly skilled and experienced board with noteworthy success in managing mineral exploration projects from early stage to production. For more information, please visit Bancroft Uranium Inc.
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