Washington (Platts)--5Jun2007

Rising prices could see utilities revert to 12-month nuclear fuel
replacement cycles to save on uranium costs, according to Haksoo Kim, acting
director of fuel supply at Exelon Nuclear.

     Kim, speaking at the World Nuclear Fuel Market conference in Athens
Tuesday, said it is a "myth" that there is nothing utilities can do to reduce
uranium demand. 

     "We could reduce uranium demand by 15% to 20% if we go back to 12-month
fuel cycles," he said.

     The industry "couldn't afford" 12-month fuel cycles when refueling
outages lasted 60 days, he said, but he proposed a scenario of an 18-day
outage one year, followed the next year by a seven-day refueling-only outage.