Analysts now expect 2008 demand to remain constant, and feel any spot price increases would have to be driven by a drop in supply. Meanwhile, though spot activity has picked up thanks to the metal’s lower price, demand interest is still discretionary, with many buyers holding out for even lower prices, while sellers await price increases.

Still, even as the spot price of uranium continues to fall in the face of plentiful supply, speculating on a bottom is tough because there’s not much historical record of uranium trading at today’s prices.

Since utilities seem to have their operating requirements covered, they’re not expected to shop in the spot market for some time, which leaves hedge funds and speculators browsing for slow-moving wares.

Other analysts believe the metal’s spot price may soon stabilize. Fund manager David Coates at CQS New City Investment Managers Ltd. told Reuters that most utilities are staying out of the spot market to keep down prices while long-term price negotiations are underway.

Given that so many uranium bulls have turned into bears in the last little while, analysts feel the metal couldn’t get much lower. Indeed, an utter absence of positives across a sector has historically heralded the bottom of the market.

But if buyers are to return to the beleaguered market, they could also come in the form of producers looking to make up production shortfalls. That’s according to British online news website www.guardian.co.uk, which reported a uranium trader saying producers will come in as their supplies run dry.

The last major spot price slump came in late 2007. Spot price activity then picked up again in February and March, with buyers willing to pay more than $70 per pound U3O8, but they’ve since disappeared. Bloomberg reported the current spot slump has to do with increased uranium output from Australia, Kazakhstan, and Russia, combined with a slump in the U.S. economy.

But the uncertainty is contained within the spot market. Long-term prices of the metal are stable at US$95 a pound U3O8 through the end of April, marking the eleventh month at those levels. According to Toll Cross Securities, contracts for April through June are trading at US$68, while July through December futures are worth US$70. June 2009 futures are priced at US$75 and December 2009 futures are worth US$85.

Looking further into the future, according to Macquarie Capital Securities, the uranium market will hit a supply deficit in the early part of the next decade as new reactors come online between 2013 and 2016. Other analysts feel that pinch could come as early as 2010, when China is expected to enter the nuclear arena as a major power consumer.

And let’s not forget uranium will be showcased at this year’s G8 talks. Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who is chairing the talks in July, said he will take leadership and give special attention to nuclear power.

World Nuclear News obtained a transcript of a speech Fukuda was giving at the 41st Annual Conference of the Japan Atomic Industry Forum earlier this month, where he backed the proverbial nuclear renaissance as an important strategy in the battle against global warming.

The G8 meeting will be an interesting one, as it will see leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the U.K., and the U.S. try to reconcile their feelings on nuclear power. With new pro-nuclear policies in the U.K., vast uranium deposits in Canada, and strong support for nuclear in France, Russia, and Japan, Germany and Italy will remain the lone opponents of nuclear technology in the group.

This week also saw interesting nuclear news from western Canada. In Alberta, Canada’s oil capital, an expert panel is getting set to study the use of nuclear power. That province’s government has appointed a panel to examine the potential use of nuclear energy. The panel is expected to release a report, which, in the absence of an official government position on nuclear power, is expected to become a launching pad for public debate.

According to World Nuclear News, the panel will examine environmental, social, health, and safety issues; waste management; comparison of nuclear energy with other electricity generation technologies; the current and future state of nuclear power generation in Canada and around the world; and Alberta's future electricity needs.

Though traditionally fuelled by oil, Alberta has already received several proposals calling for the use of nuclear power to produce steam to extract oil from Alberta's oil sands. Bruce Power has now filed an application with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to build several reactors in the Peace River area of Alberta as early as 2017.

And the government of British Columbia, Alberta’s neighbour to the west, needed no special panel to reaffirm its rejection of uranium development, thus formalizing a long-standing moratorium on uranium development. According to an announcement by Kevin Krueger, that province’s Minister of State for Mining, British Columbia will not support the exploration and development of uranium.

Furthermore, it is establishing a “no registration reserve” under the Mineral Tenure Act for uranium, which will ensure any future claims do not include the rights to uranium.

According to a press release by the Ministry of Energy, Mines, and Petroleum Resources, the government will also support the B.C. Energy Plan commitment of no nuclear power and ensure all uranium deposits in the province remain undeveloped.

The move annoyed uranium companies and others in the nuclear industry. Junior miners were caught off guard by the move, which ends all opportunities for development, the president of the Association for Mineral Exploration of B.C. told The Globe and Mail newspaper.

Today, there is no uranium mining in the province. Development and mining of uranium in Canada is regulated by the federal government through the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. While the only uranium mines operating in Canada are in Saskatchewan, junior miners had been eyeing uranium deposits in B.C. after last summer’s record price jump. But no dice.