The uranium price started the second quarter at $34 (U.S.) per pound U3O8 and softened through the period. While the price remained relatively flat in June and July, trending between $32 (U.S.) and $33.50 (U.S.) per pound of U3O8, buying weakened as the end of July approached, and on July 29, 2020, Cameco Corp. announced that it would reopen its Cigar Lake mine in September, 2020. Production from the Cigar Lake mine was temporarily suspended in March, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The market understood that the restart of the mine would be driven by commercial factors. Accordingly, the restart news surprised many market participants, and moving into August, 2020, the uranium price slowly fell from $32.20 (U.S.) at the beginning of the month to $30.65 (U.S.) by month-end. While spot market purchasing in the quarter did remain strong relative to previous years, it has dipped significantly from the preceding quarter's volumes.

Earlier in July, National Atomic Company Kazatomprom indicated that it would extend the period of reduced operational activity at its mines from the originally disclosed period of three months to four months. At that time, Kazatomprom anticipated gradually increasing staff levels and production at the beginning of August, 2020, if it was deemed safe to do. Subsequent to that announcement, in August, 2020, Kazatomprom announced that it would maintain its 20-per-cent production decrease from previously planned levels through calendar year 2022, with no additional production planned to replace volumes lost in 2020 due to the COVID-19-related reduction in operations. In addition, in August, 2020, Kazatomprom also publicly confirmed that it has bought uranium in the spot market and may continue to do so through the rest of the calendar year. This buying activity has helped to stabilize general market sentiment.

Through the second quarter, the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) continued its negotiations with the Russian government and other interested parties on the agreement suspending the anti-dumping investigation on uranium from the Russian Federation (also known as the Russian suspension agreement or the RSA). The RSA established an annual quota, limiting the delivery of nuclear fuel into the United States from Russia. This agreement is set to expire at the end of 2020. In September, 2020, a draft amendment was announced that would extend the RSA until 2040 and reduce U.S. reliance on uranium products over the next 20 years by: (1) reducing Russian exports of the enrichment component from the current level of approximately 20 per cent of U.S. enrichment demand to an average of 17 per cent over the 20-year period, and (2) limiting Russian uranium concentrates and conversion components contained in the enriched uranium product to an average equivalent of approximately 7 per cent of U.S. enrichment demand. The draft amendment has been released for public comment, and the DOC is looking to finalize the amendment in October, 2020.

There has been positive news regarding new reactor start-ups over the past quarter. The nuclear industry celebrated the start-up of the United Arab Emirates' first nuclear power plant. On Aug. 1, 2020, Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp. (ENEC) achieved initial criticality of its South Korean-designed APR-1400 Barakah unit 1, following fuel loading in March. On Aug. 19, 2020, ENEC announced that unit 1 had subsequently been connected to the electric power grid in the UAE. Unit 1 is the first of four to be started at the site. Unit 2 is now being prepared for commissioning, with the construction of unit 3 now 93 per cent complete, and unit 4 at 86-per-cent completion.

While the UAE was celebrating its first nuclear reactor, China celebrated a nuclear program that continues to expand. On July 27, 2020, China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) reported that unit 5 at its Tianwan nuclear power plant attained initial criticality. This was followed by an announcement on Sept. 9, 2020, that the power plant had entered commercial operation. Construction of the unit began in December, 2015. Unit 6 at the site began construction in September, 2016. Both are expected to attain full commercial operation before the end of 2021.

China added to this positive nuclear news when it was reported that its state council approved the construction of two new nuclear power projects. This announcement comes after more than a year in which China granted no new nuclear power project approvals, and sees the country continue to follow its playbook of increasing infrastructure investment to boost the economy and employment, while improving future energy security amid escalating geopolitical tensions. The approved projects were Hainan Changjiang nuclear power plant phase 2 and Zhejiang San'ao nuclear power plant phase 1. Last year, China launched three new nuclear power plants in the provinces of Shandong, Fujian and Guangdong, which marked the end of a moratorium on new projects. In July, 2020, it was reported that the China Nuclear Energy Association (CNEA) said the country will build six to eight nuclear reactors a year between 2020 and 2025 and raise total capacity to 70 gigawatts, up 43.5 per cent from the capacity at the end of May, 2020. The CNEA was also quoted as saying that China's total installed nuclear capacity is expected to be 52 gigawatts by the end of 2020 and that it would soon get back on track to bring total capacity either in operation or under construction to around 200 gigawatts by 2035.

Russia also announced positive news, reporting on Aug. 31, 2020, that State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom's unit 2 of the Leningrad II plant reached the minimum controlled power level, meaning that a controlled, self-sustaining reaction had begun in the new reactor. The reactor's commercial operation is set to begin in 2021.

Last summer, the U.S. nuclear industry gained a significant win when Ohio's state government passed legislation to provide a subsidy of up to $150-million per year to keep the Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear plants operating in Ohio. In July, 2020, however, bribery allegations were raised against Ohio's House Speaker and several close advisers related to the nuclear bailout legislation. It is unknown at this time how the operation of these nuclear units will be impacted by this development.

In August, 2020, Exelon Corp. announced its intention to retire its Dresden and Byron generating stations in the fall of 2021, despite being licensed for another decade, and 20 years, respectively. Exelon pointed to poorly conceived energy policies, which favour fossil fuel plants and have made the plants uneconomic to run. Exelon made similar announcements regarding its Clinton and Quad Cities plants before winning subsidies in 2016 to keep them open, so the nuclear industry will continue to closely observe this stalemate.

Building on last year's announcement by the provincial governments of Saskatchewan, Ontario and New Brunswick, the Province of Alberta has joined the group by signing on to the memorandum of understanding to support the development of versatile and scalable small modular reactors (SMRs). The Alberta government recognized the potential of the emerging technology to provide needed power to remote communities, to lower emissions and to further diversify the province's energy sector. In particular, the government noted the potential use of SMRs within Alberta's oil sands industry, given that the projects are often very remote and off-grid, and require a lot of heat and power to operate.

Also in Canada, Ontario Power Generation (OPG)'s Darlington nuclear generating station reached a significant milestone with reconnection of the fully refurbished unit 2 to Ontario's electricity grid. Unit 2 represents the first of Darlington's four units to be refurbished under a 10-year project, which is expected to be completed in 2026 and is intended to extend the lives of the reactors by 30 years.

In September, 2020, OPG announced that it had reached another major milestone with work commencing on the refurbishment of Darlington's unit 3 following the unit's safe shutdown on July 30, 2020. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, OPG postponed the commencement of the unit 3 refurbishment from its scheduled start in May 2020.

In the United States, Southern Company added itself to a growing list of U.S. utilities to announce a commitment to a long-term reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to net-zero emissions by 2050. In recent years, Southern has reduced its GHG emissions significantly and has set an interim target of a 50-per-cent reduction in GHG emissions from 2007 levels by 2030. The company has already reduced its footprint and expects it could meet that target in advance of 2030, perhaps as early as 2025. The ability to reach Southern's goals will be enhanced by the completion of the two new nuclear units that the utility is building in Georgia -- Vogtle units 3 and 4 -- which are projected for start-up in November, 2021, and November, 2022, respectively.

As many industries were shut down under the strain of COVID-19-related problems, nuclear electricity generation around the globe remained steadfast, providing the secure, reliable, baseload electricity needed to drive key infrastructure. Building on this and other nuclear energy benefits, a growing dialogue has emerged which is focused on the role nuclear is clearly able to play in helping the world manage through COVID-19 today, and through the economic recovery in the months and years to come. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)'s Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) has drawn further attention to these benefits through a series of policy briefs it recently published that examine nuclear energy's potential. These briefs focus on four areas: (1) nuclear energy's ability to provide cost-effective decarbonization of electricity systems; (2) the high-value jobs created with nuclear energy projects; (3) creating policy frameworks within countries that unlock financing to incentivize investment in essential infrastructure that supports low-carbon electricity security; and (4) the importance of building a low-carbon, resilient electricity infrastructure with nuclear energy. Nuclear energy is well positioned to play a critical role in helping strengthen the world's economy as it emerges from COVID-19 while, at the same time, leveraging its benefits as a non-carbon-dioxide-emitting energy source to address ever growing climate concerns.