Released on April 15, 2015
Saskatchewan’s uranium mining industry is today celebrating a milestone achievement, as a historic new agreement with India sets the stage for shipments of Canadian uranium to that country for electricity generation.Premier Brad Wall was in Ottawa this morning for the signing of a supply contract between Cameco Inc., a subsidiary of Saskatoon-based Cameco Corporation, and the Department of Atomic Energy of India. The premier witnessed the signing along with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in Canada on a state visit.
“I would like to thank the federal government and Prime Minister Harper and the Government of India and Prime Minister Modi for reaching the agreement and business framework that made the Cameco contract possible,” Wall said. “India has a dynamic and growing nuclear energy program, and the opportunity to supply this major customer is a huge deal for our industry, the workers it employs and the Saskatchewan communities it supports.”
The Canada-India Nuclear Co-operation Agreement came into force in September 2013, thus allowing Canadian companies to export nuclear products for peaceful uses to India.
The premier promoted Saskatchewan’s uranium resources during his two trade missions to India in March 2011 and November of last year. During the first mission, he met with Modi, then the chief minister of the Indian state of Gujarat.
“Premier Wall and the Government of Saskatchewan have always championed our industry, both domestically and internationally,” Cameco President and CEO Tim Gitzel said. “That support played a big part in helping open the doors for our business to one of the world’s most promising uranium markets.”
India’s nuclear energy program is second only to China’s in its scale. The country has 21 reactors currently in operation, with another six under construction and scheduled to come online in 2017. India expects to supply 25 per cent of its electricity from nuclear power by 2050.
“Saskatchewan is already our nation’s top exporter to India, and we’re delighted to be part of its future energy mix,” Wall said. “We have the resources that India and other rapidly-developing countries in Asia need. Those countries are increasingly seeing our province as a major contributor to global energy and food security, and we are poised to dramatically increase our exports to these markets as a result.”
Saskatchewan is home to 100 per cent of Canada’s uranium mining industry. Our province is the world’s second-leading producer of uranium and the Athabasca Basin contains the world’s largest high-grade uranium deposits.
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For more information, contact:
Kathy Young
Executive Council
Regina
Phone: 306-787-0425
Email: kathy.young@gov.sk.ca
Cell: 306-526-8927