Gitzel, Cameco pledge to remain Saskatchewan-based amidst global nuclear rush

Gitzel said Cameco is well-recognized is a Saskatchewan product, sharing how proud he is to be from the province.

Referencing COP28, the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, Moe spoke of a “culmination point” for the path the world is now taking with nuclear energy.

Gitzel dove into the history behind the acceleration towards nuclear power. He pointed to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident, after which the price of uranium dropped from $73 U.S. per pound to $17 U.S. per pound in 2017.

“We went through a lot of hurt,” Gitzel said, noting that Cameco let about 2,500 employees go in northern Saskatchewan and Saskatoon.

“It was brutal,” Gitzel said, but explained the move had to be done in order to keep his company.

“We believed there’d be better days ahead,” he shared.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, which Gitzel noted brought a time when “you started seeing moves – electrification, decarbonization, climate change, climate crisis, climate disaster, race to net zero,” which he said helped with the push for nuclear.

When Russia invaded Ukraine, energy security became a poignant concern, Gitzel shared. Then, at COP28, Gitzel said Cameco was invited in, after many years of never discussing nuclear “at all.

“30 countries and 120 companies signed a pledge to triple nuclear power by 2050,” Gitzel recalled. “That was really the impetus.”

Looking at current world events, Gitzel referenced AI and electricity demands doubling over the next two decades are going to continue to necessitate significant power generation.

“Around the world, it’s the same story if we’re going to keep up,” Gitzel said, referencing China’s growth from no reactors to 60 with another 35 under construction today. India – with whom Cameco recently signed a nine-year, $2.6 billion deal – currently has eight gigawatts equivalent of nuclear power and wants 100 by 2047.

“That’s the growth we’re seeing in our industry,” Gitzel said. “We’re living in a different movie these days.”

Moe noted that it is immensely more difficult to figure out how to double power supply than to just say it’s happening. He noted Cameco’s rapid advancement being made in eastern Europe, the United States and India.

Gitzel said the Cameco began 40 years ago as a nuclear fuel company known for Saskatchewan uranium.

“We have the best deposits in the world by a long shot,” he said.

In April 2015, Cameco signed an agreement with then-Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, present, that Cameco would supply a million pounds of uranium a year for five years to India. That paved the way for the latest deal Cameco and India have struck, thought it wasn’t always certain this new deal would come through, Gitzel explained.

Less than five years ago, he said the decision was made for the company to become more than just nuclear fuel. The company began working to build nuclear reactors. Two years ago, Cameco bought Westinghouse Electric Corporation.

“If we create our own demand, every reactor we build, they last for 80 to 100 years and we provide all the servicing and engineering and outage work, and we have all the fuel for them,” Gitzel explained.

The company – and the nuclear industry – has continued to grow from there, with Cameco now providing chemical Westinghouse fuel to five countries in eastern Europe, including Ukraine.

“We supply from Saskatchewan all the fuel for the Russian reactors. Fifty-five per cent of their electricity comes from right here. So we picked up … that market, and that’s only growing,” Gitzel shared.

Cameco fueling Canada

Moe noted the need for domestic energy, as well. Gitzel commented that Canada is a world leader when it comes to nuclear energy.

Six in 10 lights in Ontario, he said, are fuelled by nuclear power from the 16 plants operating in that province. All of that power is fuelled by Cameco, with more reactors and plants in the works.

Gitzel pledged that Cameco would remain shoulder-to-shoulder with Saskatchewan as it endeavours into its own nuclear future.

“I can tell you, Saskatchewan, we’re not second class, we’re world class, and don’t ever forget that,” Gitzel said.

Stating there are “endless possibilities” for Saskatchewan, Gitzel made a promise: “I’ll stay here forever,” he said.

–with files from 980 CJME’s Abby Zieverink

by Libby Gray, CJME News Staff

Gitzel, Cameco pledge to remain Saskatchewan-based amidst global nuclear rush

Cameco fueling Canada

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