Uranium Investing News: Uranium Market: Russia Wants On Top
On Tuesday, Russia's Techsnabexport (Tenex) signed a landmark agreement with US utilities firm Fuelco worth a reported $1 billion. Tenex is the export branch of Russia's Federal Nuclear Energy Agency (Rosatom) and Fuelco is a conglomeration made up of Pacific Gas and Electric Co, Luminant and Ameren UE. The deal will allow Tenex to supply uranium to US companies from 2014 to 2020 in the first solely commercial uranium contract between Russia and the US; it also follows a negotiated settlement in February 2008 between the two nations authorizing Russian uranium imports to the US civil nuclear power industry.

Forbes: EDF's Big Bond Play
These are testing times for European utilities like Electricite de France, which have to plan investment programs while at the same time coping with acquisition-fueled debt piles. France's EDF has already taken several paths to help deal with its 24.5 billion-euro ($34.2 billion) pile, including the sale of a 20.0% stake in subsidiary British Energy to Centrica and the launch of 11 billion euros ($15.4 billion) in bonds, and on Wednesday it confirmed another--retail bonds. A spokeswoman for Electricite de France confirmed the utility would announce on June 3 a retail bond issue "in the order of" 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion), with the aim of "diversifying" its financing base and funding its domestic investment program. She would not confirm the terms of the bonds, which will reportedly carry a 4.0%-5.0% rate of interest, with a maturity of four to five years, according to French daily Les Echos.

Deseret News: Critics say N-plant would harm ecosystem
Critics of a proposal to divert nearly 30,000 acre feet of water from the Green River for use at Utah's first nuclear-power plant say it would threaten already endangered fish and rare plants. The protest by the Center for Biological Diversity, filed with the Utah State Engineer's Office, raises concerns over the Kane County Water Conservancy District's application to change the nature of the water's use and its diversion point. Specifically, the center questions "how the water diversion will be consistent with the need to protect river flows and habitat conditions critical for the survival of imperiled plants and animals in the vicinity of the power plant's footprint, including endangered fish," according to a news release from the group. The Las-Vegas based organization joins other conservation and environmental groups like Living Rivers, Moab Local Green Party, Red Rock Watch and Uranium Watch, in addition to Healthy Environment Alliance (HEAL) of Utah, in protesting the water's diversion.

Global Security Newswire: French, Pakistani Leaders Could Sign Nuclear Trade Deal in Fall
The leaders of France and Pakistan could sign a bilateral nuclear trade deal this fall, Asian News International reported yesterday. Pakistan's foreign minister claimed that Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and French President Nicolas Sarkozy agreed during a recent meeting in Paris to pursue a civilian nuclear agreement similar to pacts reached by several nations with India. Those deals gave New Delhi access to sensitive materials and technology from the United States and other countries, even though India possesses nuclear weapons and has never joined the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Pakistan is also a nuclear-armed nation that remains outside the pact.