CAMECO CORP — Call Transcript 2026

Good morning, and welcome again to the 42nd Annual Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference. We are not expecting a fire drill, and so if you hear an alarm, please take it seriously. Your primary path of exit is straight out the back door. Escalators will take you to the ground floor. You'll exit to the street and await further instructions. If, for whatever reason, it seems hard to believe that that path would be blocked, there is an internal staircase just to the left where I'm pointing, and you'll choose that. Go down, follow the lights there, and again, exit out onto the street. I am Bob Brackett, Bernstein's Co-Head of Energy and Transition and Global Metals and Mining. I will be hosting this fireside chat with Grant Isaac, the President and COO of Cameco, but ultimately, this is your fireside chat. The way you can join the conversation is through the QR codes you've been given, that will take you to Pigeonhole. You can use that to ask questions, which will appear on my phone and then the iPad up here. With that, I will adjourn, and we'll begin our conversation. First of all, Grant, thanks very much for joining us. Yeah, thank you very much. Really pleased to be here. I was saying earlier, we've had the majority of the S&P Energy Index by market cap here this week, and I've spent most of this week in the Regent Room, which is down the hall, and it's one of the smallest rooms. Apparently, oil and gas can be well-contained, uranium can't. This is your first time here doing a fireside chat. We're going to talk about you all for the next 50 minutes, but maybe in two, three, four minutes, talk about Cameco. Introduce yourselves, and then we'll jump in from there. Yeah, absolutely happy to do that. By the way, I do encourage questions from the floor. Really interested in what you're thinking. Your questions help us understand where our story is being understood and where it's not being understood as well. Please, would love to hear from you. When you think about Cameco, I think one of the themes that we often use is that we are a nuclear pure-play company, but we are right across the entire spectrum of the industry. Everything from the biggest exploration land package in the Athabasca Basin, in the prolific Athabasca uranium basin in Saskatchewan, largest uranium mines, highest grade uranium mines. We operate the world's largest uranium mill. As you start to work your way downstream, world's largest uranium refinery, Western World's largest converter of uranium as we start to work through the stages. We're not in the enrichment business, but it is something we're very interested in being a part of and have quite a unique investment in the enrichment space. We find ourselves in the fuel fabrication space for reactors, and between what we do as Cameco for pressurized heavy water reactors, the Canadian CANDU reactors, and what Westinghouse, which we own half of with Brookfield, does for the rest of the global fleet. About 65% of all the fuel in Western reactors comes through either our facility or Westinghouse's facility. Of course, Westinghouse provides incredible reactor services. They are involved in most of the operating plants in some way, shape, or form, and have the best-in-class gigawatt scale reactor, the AP1000. Now we're across the reactor cycle as well. We're putting a big shoulder into that as Cameco, but also as Brookfield, our co-owner of Westinghouse, because the idea of starting to build gigawatt scale reactors in a fleet way in the Western world is actually the creation of 80-100 years of demand for our core business. It really is about taking control of the main drivers of our industry and then bringing that back into the core of our business. I would just maybe end the advertisement with the nuclear industry has been repriced. If you look at the fuel cycle, you've seen strong repricing in many of the stages. The repricing hasn't fully hit uranium yet, but uranium price is up, and it's up in a very healthy way. The way we contract our services forward under long-term contracts means that all that pricing power is still in front of us. All the cash flow and earnings that come from producing from a Tier 1 asset base with stronger prices now flowing through the contract portfolio, that's all still in front of us. We're very, very excited about our position in this industry. We're very, very excited about this industry, and we think there's a lot to talk about and a lot to unpack. Thank you for that opportunity. Fantastic. I'm going to start with a very short-term question, and then I'm going to ask a very long-term question. On the very short-term, we are now effectively 90 days, 91 days into an energy crisis, an oil crisis where 20% of the world's oil can't exit the Strait of Hormuz. It can find its way around. 20% of the world's LNG, similarly. No real impact on nuclear power, on uranium cycles. Has anything around today's energy crisis changed your thinking of how we should consider uranium and nuclear? The last time the Western world built out nuclear reactors on a fleet scale was a Middle East energy crisis. That's what led to the 58 reactors in France and the nearly 60 reactors in Japan at one time, and the 104 reactors in the U.S. and the 21 in Canada. Energy security is a really difficult lesson for nations to learn, and we're in the grip of an energy security crisis. I would say it didn't start with the recent Middle East action, it really started with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the realization that some really important Western economies had bargained away their energy sovereignty to Russia. That began a real focus on energy security. That combined with the climate security attributes of nuclear. Now if there's a third leg to the stool for our industry, it's actually the linkage of our industry with national security. The idea that there is a race for generative AI and agentic AI, the critical path item for that is electrons. Electrons that are 24-hour, electrons that are base load, electrons that are resilient and robust, coming from an energy system that is highly reliable. Those three things have really come together, and I would say, the crisis we're seeing right now in the Middle East is actually just adding fuel to a fire that was already burning and already helping the nuclear industry, I think, regain its appropriate role in national considerations of climate, energy, and national security. The very long-term question, amidst that backdrop, if we think about net zero ambitions, if you go back five or 10 years, and we had a number of countries around the world pledging or directing themselves to do less of something. Frankly, the results might've been disappointing. Now we have countries around the world pledging to do something. 38 countries, maybe more, it moves around, have pledged to triple nuclear power by 2050. That's adding something like 1,000 world scale AP1000 reactors. These are countries from China, from the U.S., goes down through the developed Europe, goes down to developing economies in Africa, Senegal, for example. What do you think of that pledge? That sort of, if that's real, that's a 5% CAGR in reactor builds out to 2050. How real is that? Can it be achieved? The tripling nuclear pledge really was, I think, the result of the factors that we just discussed. A couple of years ago at COP28, it was the recognition of nuclear's attributes for climate security, of course. It was at COP28. It was also the context of the energy security and the national security which came together. We often look at those kind of announcements and we say, boy, it would be great if we just got started. What I think a lot of people lose sight of is actually there's 73 reactors under construction today. This isn't something we're waiting for. A lot of nations have continued to build through Central and Eastern Europe. Nuclear new build didn't stop. It just happened to be Russian reactors, and now they're looking to pivot away from Russian reactors. Slovakia just brought on two brand-new reactors in the last two years. When you look around the world, over 70 reactors currently under construction, and really the focus now is how do we get launch conditions in a nation like the United States? We're going to see new build, and we are seeing new build in Canada. We're going to see new build in Poland, in Bulgaria. You've got a number of Western European countries evaluating new build going on in the U.K. A lot of people, I think, look at the absence of new build in the United States and just assume that must be what's going on everywhere else. Well, actually everywhere else is finding launch conditions, and it's the U.S. that is lagging a little bit. I would say the urgency to catch up is quite significant. This is just adding to a base of growth that was already underway, and a base of growth which is very exciting for an incumbent nuclear fuel producer like us. Given this line of sight of new builds and given a question that we just had come in, the question is, and we'll jump ahead into Westinghouse, and then we'll come back to some macro. The idea is from the outside, things appear to have stalled on the $80 billion AP1000 agreement with the U.S. Are things still on the rails? Last fall, we announced an agreement to Cameco, Brookfield, Westinghouse, with the Department of Commerce to really solve the challenge of new build in the U.S. I don't mean to use this as a pejorative term at all, but really the conditions in the U.S. were really to go after the bronze medal, not the gold medal. What I mean there is you had utilities under a lot of pressure by the administration and past administrations to start building. Of course, the last build in the U.S., we're not at first of a kind for AP1000s, but we're not yet at nth of a kind for AP1000s. We're still in that transition, next of a kind costs, working our way down to nth of a kind. There wasn't an appreciation for the challenge that creates for an individual utility. That utility that stepped forward and put up its hand and said, I want to build the next two AP1000s, was effectively saying, I want to build the next two most expensive AP1000s, because we're not at nth of a kind yet. The appropriate response from stakeholders was, well, why don't you wait and let somebody else go first? Even better, let somebody else go second. Do one and two, three and four, and why don't you be five and six What we saw was the emergence of this really big order book for units five, six, and beyond, and a very small order book for one and two and three and four. The Department of Commerce, I think, as well as the Department of Energy, so Secretary Lutnick and Secretary Wright, have really recognized that this is the challenge in the United States. How do you turn a race for the bronze medal into a race for the gold medal? Whether it's the Department of Commerce looking at the next of a kind funding, harnessing foreign direct investment pledges made to the United States by countries like Japan, South Korea, and others in order to buy down tariff rates, or whether it's using tools in the DOE toolbox, how do you shift that incentive so that the one who goes first, who by the way, is going to stand up a supply chain and create very significant economic multipliers and very significant cluster multipliers that don't accrue to the first mover, they accrue to everybody else. How do you share in that? That's the effort that's underway, and I would say a lot of momentum continues down these two tracks, both Department of Commerce and Department of Energy. I think the leadership understands the challenge and the hunger for the 24-hour base load carbon-free electrons that come from these incredible industrial cathedrals that are AP1000s that are going to run for 80 to 100 years. That demand is there. It's just getting that coalition built in a industry-led, government-enabled model, unlike countries like Poland and Bulgaria, where you have the state with a state-regulated utility taking the lead and taking on all those risks. We're trying to have the private sector drive those risks for the first time, which that's what created that race for the bronze. It's that race for the gold that we're trying to create here, and I would say lots of momentum. I think in your explicit guidance for 2026 is some moving forward, right? An explicit guide of not a deal, not a CAD 10 billion, but something signed, something binding. Our current business plan for Westinghouse does have some preliminary work being done on evaluating new build in the U.S. The way that new build normally happens in our industry is, often it's a state that makes the decision to build new nuclear, tells a state-owned utility to do a reactor down selection. We go through a process where they consider the technology that they can use. When the technology is chosen, that generally kicks off a series of engineering contracts, front-end engineering and design, not to change the reactor. If you think about our AP1000, it is the only gigawatt scale reactor that's fully deployable today and fully designed to the construction level of design. Not just the engineering level of design, but the construction level of design because there are two operating in the United States, four operating in China, another eight under construction in China. We know how to build those. We know where every millivolt wire goes in an AP1000. You have front-end engineering and design to locate that product in a place where it's never been before. Westinghouse will often see in its energy systems business, the pickup of that cashflow and earnings from that front-end engineering and design. There's a Feed 1, a Feed 2. Feed 2 results in an estimate to complete. The estimate to complete drives the final investment decision. At final investment decision, you kick off a very significant procurement part of Westinghouse's business to buy all the long lead items, for example. E, engineering, comes before P, procurement. What's interesting about the United States model is there's an effort underway to help go from a race for the bronze to a race for the gold by pulling the procurement out in front of engineering. To say to utilities, we understand one of the things you're worried about is being the one who stands up the supply chain and takes on all that risk yourself. What if we can find a mechanism where maybe it's the U.S. government that takes the lead on ordering the kit for 10 reactors all up front, and it's not a single utility taking that on themselves. In which case, P, procurement, will come before E, the engineering part of it. It really is a shift to the business model for Westinghouse. Right now, nothing's at FID. There have been no agreements actually struck. We're in that traditional model of there is some engineering in there, but we're not at an estimate to complete. We're certainly not at FID, and that's a precondition for us to start changing the growth rate of Westinghouse, because if we started to make assumptions about where reactors are going to be. The reality is that when you tour around the world and look at the U.S. and look at Canada and Poland and Bulgaria, perhaps Saudi Arabia, maybe the UAE through Western Europe, you have about 70 AP1000s that are under serious discussion. None of them are at FID, they're under very serious discussion. If we make up a number and say, well, we think 15 are going to be started five years from now, the only thing I know for sure is that number's going to be wrong. For us, we wait for FID before we put it into the business plan. It's interesting. If you think about that EPC framework, you flip the P and the E, someone can take that P risk, the government, they can effectively warehouse, stockpile materials. The other challenge is of that EPC contract, maybe 25%-40% sits within the E and the P, that remainder sits in the C. The two challenges with construction in nuclear historically have been change orders. Change orders can arise from two places. A poorly designed workflow, and that's mitigatable. Regulatory surprises along the way are what can kill you. Suddenly, you go back to a regulator and they said, oh, what do you mean 6 inches? Should've been 7 inches. Talk about government support. From that perspective on the construction side. Bruce Power in Canada is considering gigawatt scale new build. Their CEO, Eric Chassard, is quite unique in the nuclear community because he's actually an active CEO who has built nuclear reactors. He came out of the French nuclear industry, and he was responsible for finishing projects like the Taishan EPRs, like the Olkiluoto EPRs. Having played that role of having to fix projects that had gone off the rails, he's got a very clear vision of the risks that need to be managed by any utility making the decision for new build. I'm simply quoting him, but he says there are five big risks that a utility has to manage. The first is design risk. Don't build anything that's not yet designed. This has actually been the number one mistake in nuclear new build over the years. When the U.S., from its base of 104 reactors, there were actually 55 different models. Of those, many of those projects began before the design was properly locked down. Don't start construction until something's fully designed. Number two is fuel risk. A lot of reactors that are being proposed today are not only novel in their design as a reactor technology, I can't tell you today where the commercial fuel is coming from. I have no idea where it's going to be made, and I have no idea what it's going to cost. As Eric would say, that's like buying a fleet of electric vehicles and having no idea where you're going to plug it in. Have your design locked down, understand where your commercial fuel cycle is coming from. There's, as you say, a licensing risk. Licensing risk is often quite open-ended in the nuclear industry. Why take on that risk? Why start with a novel design and then have this open-ended licensing project? The fourth risk is regulatory, distinct from licensing. Regulatory is the idea that even if you have something that's fully designed and you know where your commercial fuel is coming from, and you even have a license, you're going to locate it somewhere it's never been before. You're going to be doing first-of-a-kind regulatory reviews. Then if you can take care of those first four risks, you still have big project risk. When you look at something like our AP1000, it's the only gigawatt scale reactor available today that takes four of five risks off the table on day one. Now you're left with just big project risk. This gets to Bob's point that when you think about a nuclear project, the unique nuclear stuff, the nuclear island, is only like 30% of the reactor. The rest of it is just a big civil engineering project. Lots of concrete, lots of steel, lots of steel buildings, lots of structure. The nuclear part is pretty well understood. What we see is when utilities talk about that fifth risk, and they talk about the big project risk, and they talk about the worries of cost overrun, they're actually not talking about the nuclear island. They're talking about the rest of the big civil project because it's been a while since somebody's done those big civil projects, whereas we know where all the long lead items are going to come from for the nuclear island. Putting that all together is the challenge, but we love the AP1000 technology because it's designed, we know exactly where the fuel is coming from. It has a license basis. It has a regulatory basis. In the hands of a utility like Bruce Power, which has been refurbishing all their reactors, they're going to be incredibly well-positioned to self-perform. We think that's about as low risk scenario as you could possibly find in nuclear. It's funny, I used to, in a past life, run a planning function, and you'd have projects come through. One of my favorite questions for engineers is, hey, are you doing anything cool on the project? If their eyes light up and they give you three cool things they're doing, you know that project is a bust. When they sort of sheepishly say, well, it's kind of like the thing we did last year, you're like, that's a project that's going to work. That segues me to, and I love the comments around building a new design with a new fuel. Put that in the context of SMR more broadly. Where are we in the SMR cycle? How bullish, accepting the fact that you have a model of your own for SMRs, small modular SMRs, normal 300MW SMRs? How worried should we be that they come to market and beat the AP1000, for example? I'm going to reveal some very conscious and probably deeply unconscious biases on this topic, so bear with me. I think what we're seeing is the market is really starting to mature into appropriate use cases for different reactor technologies. Actually, we're seeing some shift in the nomenclature where people aren't saying a micro-modular reactor or a small modular reactor or a large modular reactor, because in reality, there's nothing small about a small modular reactor. Ontario Power Generation right now is building a GE BWRX-300 small modular reactor. An AP1000 is only 10% bigger than a BWRX-300. The AP1000 produces 1,200 MW. The BWRX-300 produces 300 MW. The AP1000 is only 10% bigger. Actually, the notion of small and large is really quite blurred. The way we look at it is as folks have gotten closer and closer to making a nuclear decision, they've then fallen into this risk assessment we just walked through as a group. Make sure it's a design that's locked down. Make sure there's a commercial fuel available. Is there a license basis? Is there a regulatory basis? Is there some experience with big project development? As folks get closer and closer to that phase, we're seeing a real shyness towards novelty. Novelty is not something our industry has done very well, and instead, it's being replaced by a mantra of we have to standardize, we have to sequence, and then we have to simplify the turn of each project, and that actually biases towards known technologies. It biases towards the conventional light water reactor technologies. In addition, we're seeing just the demand for power is actually outstripping some of those smaller platforms. You look at the size of some of the AI installations. Are you going to put 1,000 microreactors around an AI firm, or are you going to host four AP1000s, for example? The scale is moving away from it. At the same time, people being asked to make a risk-based decision are going back to what's known and what's available. I don't think that it crowds out the SMRs and the advanced nuclear reactors. I just think what it says is their place is probably to follow the establishment of a nuclear new build that's taking advantage of what we know today and what we already do very well today. As I look at it, I often say SMRs just kind of played this amazing Trojan horse role. They got nuclear back into conversations where people didn't want to talk about big reactors. Once nuclear was on the table, the reasons for going larger and larger 40 and 50 years ago are still here today. The conversation's increasingly going back up to big. Couple use cases. Microreactors are still very attractive against the diesel price. For remote industrial operations, remote communities, the idea of a transportable, movable reactor that's competing with the diesel price is still an attractive concept, and we have an eVinci reactor, a microreactor, that we've slow walked a little bit, but there's still a use case. 300 MW reactors still have a use case around deep decarbonization. There are utilities around the planet that are looking to take down thermal generation and put up clean generation, but tap into all the existing switch gear and transmission and distribution. 1,200 MW doesn't fit on a site where there was 300 MW of coal-fired power, for example, but a 300-MW reactor fits very nicely. The use cases are maturing, and I think that's probably what's going to drive the decisions around the type of technology people deploy. It's funny because the unit of currency for a data center is 1 GW. If somebody announces, oh, we're building 1 GW data center, you're like, pretty cool. If somebody announces they're building a 300 MW data center, you're like, it's kind of small. It's almost a bit of the strategy that, say, Tesla did, where you bring the shiniest, reddest, coolest model to market first, deploy that, learn from that, and then you kind of move down market, right? Whereas I think a lot of people might have said it's the small little SMRs that come quickly and then the big dinosaurs. Maybe you start with big and then get smart enough on big that you learn how to do small. We'll see. Is there a winner-take-all? I could see a world where six to 12 companies are badly building SMRs, and that feels like a disaster. Does the world have to pick one or two designs and decide to get to Nth of a kind on those? I think it's probably fair to assume there's going to be very significant consolidation. In our industry, if you go back to 70 years ago when Admiral Rickover made the decision to take nuclear power and convert it to civilian use, he had a series of criteria and principles that he was using to make that decision. At the time, there were molten salt reactors, there were high-temperature gas reactors, there were pressurized heavy water reactors available to him, and he chose light water reactors with enriched fuel up to 5% for a set of reasons that still hold today. You mentioned consolidation. We have a related question. What is Cameco's role in consolidating that market? If we're talking downstream and the reactor market, we would work through Westinghouse with our partner Brookfield. We are just absolutely focused right now on the gigawatt scale market where we have the leading technology, the AP1000. It's deployment-ready. There is not another technology that would compete with the AP1000 that we're interested in pursuing. We are in a partnership with a Gen II, Gen II plus technology that the Koreans have, the APR1400, like the units built in Barakah in the UAE. That is a partnership that they can only deliver those reactors under license with Westinghouse. That's a pretty good industrial arrangement for both us and for the Koreans, and we're happy with that position. When we look at SMRs, we have an AP300. We think it's a really elegant design. It's basically instead of being a two-loop AP1000, it's a one-loop AP300. Instrumentation and control, fuel reactor pressure vessel, size of the reactor coolant pumps, identical to the AP1000, just has basically a smaller turbine. We think that's the right way to go for a smaller reactor. I mentioned eVinci already. We're waiting for that to be pulled into the market rather than try to push it. Our focus is really on AP1000s right now. That's sort of the nuclear, the downstream side. You're one or two and maybe three in almost everything in the nuclear supply chain except enrichment. Any desire to get bigger in that one or two spot? Kind of answer that, and then we'll talk about that enrichment opportunity. Just to level set on enrichment, I mentioned earlier pressurized heavy water reactors like the CANDU reactors versus basically everything else. Pressurized heavy water reactors, about 8% of the global fleet don't require enrichment, and we're fully integrated in that. We fabricate fuel. That leaves 92% of the global market that's using some form of enriched fuel. Enrichment is part of the services that can be offered to our customers that we've never commercially been part of, but we've always said we would love to be part of enrichment. Enrichment today, if you exclude Russia and you exclude China, is in the hands of basically two state-owned enterprises, the French state-owned enterprise Orano, and the multi-state enterprise Urenco, the British government, the Dutch government, and two German utilities. They basically have the Western enrichment market. There's a small U.S. opportunity in Centrus producing some levels of enrichment, but mostly a broker for other people's enrichment as opposed to producing their own. Enrichment is not a crowded field. It is a field where utilities are very interested in not only supplier diversification but also technology diversification. What we have decided to do after years of trying to buy market share and discovering that our ability to be part of the incumbent enrichers would always require a price that would eat into the returns that our owners deserve for that kind of investment, we decided to pivot and explore our way into enrichment. In 2008, we started working with a partner out of Australia, and GE at the time as well, on a third-generation enrichment technology called laser enrichment. This is a very exciting technology diversification in the enrichment space. It uses the laser light spectrum to separate isotopes and keep them separated as part of the enrichment process. Right now, commercially, our focus is on proving up that technology but waiting to see how the mainstream commercial enrichment market evolves. We're looking to deploy that technology to re-enrich a liability, which is the U.S. government sits on a very big inventory of depleted UF6. UF6 that's been through enrichment before. It doesn't have natural levels of the U235 isotope. It's got much less. That material can be re-enriched. We can take all those canisters, which are a liability. We can run them through a plant, enrich them back up to natural uranium levels, and then have basically an above-ground, U.S.-origin uranium mine disguised as a conversion plant to sell into the UF6 market and watch how mainstream enrichment evolves. Why am I cautious on mainstream enrichment? Because right now, enrichment is only short in the West because we've decided to exclude Russia and not replace Russia with China. At a global level, if you look at all the enrichment capacity available, the market's not undersupplied, it's actually oversupplied. We want to make sure we know that the Russians are shut out of the Western market for the very long term. If they are, there will be a commercial opportunity. If they're not, if they come back into the Western market, they will oversupply the market like they always did. The Russian model is dual-use facilities. They're military facilities. When not being used for military purposes, they would just provide cheap enrichment service for Western customers who were happy to pay less and less and less for the enrichment every day, and then it develops a massive dependency. There is a competitor out there who right now by legislation is shut out of the market, but if in the market, has completely distortive behavior, and we just want to make sure we understand that situation better before deploying capital. That seems like a pretty reasonable position. In the meantime, we'll get into enrichment through re-enrichment, play in the uranium and UF6 market that we think we know better than anybody. That leaves the other parts of the supply chain. The mining, milling, processing interests there. Again, you're one or two in most of those. Desires to get bigger? Yeah, it all starts with uranium. As we work all the way back up to the top of the fuel cycle, the product for which there's no substitute is uranium. Now, it's not as sexy as enrichment and other parts of the fuel cycle, but it is critically important. It's also unique because it's the one part of the fuel cycle that you cannot build within the timeframe of building new reactors. If the world started building fleet scale AP1000s, we can build enrichment plants, fabrication plants, conversion plants within the time it takes to build those AP1000s. We cannot explore for, discover, prove up, construct, and commission new mines within that window. We think it's the part of the fuel cycle that the market has fallen a little bit asleep on. We're very disciplined. We don't even have our own production running at full capacity, waiting for that realization to come. We fully intend to remain, I was going to say dominant, but Cory's here. He's going to be really unhappy if I say dominant. We plan to remain dominant in uranium production. That is our goal, but right now the market is so focused on other parts, they haven't paid enough attention to the uranium, so they're not sending the signal for us to be investing. We're sitting here as Cameco with Tier 1 assets. We have 70% of our production running. 30% of our production is strategically either running at less capacity or is in care and maintenance. We have brownfield leverage as well as greenfield leverage that we think nobody else has. You have to have the demand in the market, and it's just not there yet. Uranium isn't something we have forgotten about, but we can't force the utilities to buy uranium, but we can wait when they show up, and to the extent that they believe it's scarce, they're willing to pay more for it, and those pounds will be worth more tomorrow than they are today. That brings me to the whole nature of uranium price. If I think about oil, if I think about natural gas, most oil producers barely hedge. They might hedge half of their volumes this year and a quarter next. Most takers of oil, airlines have sort of stopped hedging. Maybe they hedge one, two, three years out. Same with natural gas. Uranium is that one commodity where hedging strategies from the purchasers, from the utilities, are significant, and therefore it really does kind of bifurcate the market between a spot market and a long-term contract market. Now, can you give us a 101 on uranium price? What should people look at on their screen, and how should they think about price discovery and where that price is going? That is a terrific question. Let me unpack it a little bit. I would start first with the great news, which is the cheat code for knowing where the uranium price is going is two things. One is the stock of demand that's out there. In our investor presentation on slide 19, I don't happen to have it with me, but we show this thing called the uncovered requirements wedge. What it is we basically track, as an industry, the amount of uranium that is required to run the existing nuclear fleet, plus plants that are restarting, plus plants that are under construction, but really no more than that, it's a pretty conservative view, that has not yet been bought by utilities. That wedge, that stock of demand between now and 2045 is bigger than it has ever been. There has been no point in the commercial uranium industry where this much forward demand has yet to come into the market. That's pretty exciting. Stock of demand looks great for an incumbent producer. The second cheat code for demand is, what's the rate at which utilities have been coming into the market? What's the flow of demand? This is also an interesting data point. Utilities have been borrowing time. Utilities, since 2012, have not bought uranium forward at replacement rate. They've been consuming more uranium off old contracts, taking delivery of old contracts, and coming into the market and buying less uranium. They've been below replacement rate in their contracting, which, by the way, is why the uncovered requirements wedge keeps growing. What this means is, not only is the uncovered requirements growing, the industry has destocked significantly because the only way to live below replacement rate since 2012 is to be chewing through inventories. It's the only way to do it. We've had a massive destocking in our industry, and that's reflected in the fall of the secondary supplies to our market because those inventories have been chewed through. That is absolutely great. It means that a uranium producer has a lot of demand coming for its supply, but you have to be strategic and patient. There is a great investment case for uranium. What you always have to remember as an investor in the uranium space is it's always forward-looking. Uranium is a really unique commodity because it has zero in-year fundamental demand. There is not a reactor on the planet loading a fuel bundle in the next 12 to 18 months that hasn't already procured the uranium. That doesn't mean utilities don't occasionally buy in the spot market, but when they do, they're simply doing things like, well, building back up their inventory. Maybe they need a bit more material to put in an inventory, or maybe they have a fuel outage coming in a couple of years and want to buy a bit more material to put in process for a fuel outage or a reload. The key to thinking about that is that utility demand on the front end, it's very small and it's highly discretionary. They don't have to buy today. It's not their requirements that they're buying for. In our industry, people spend a lot of time looking at the spot market, but it is not a fundamental market. It has no fundamental in-year demand. We see this really weird result where the uncovered requirements is bigger than it's ever been. We're not even at replacement rate contracting yet, and we're already at a $93 long-term price of uranium. Yet somebody shows up and sells 100,000 pounds, 200,000 pounds into the spot market, and it drops by $4. Investors go, well, what's going on here? Are we done? Is the run in the uranium price over? No, it's because the spot market has no fundamental demand. Somebody showing up with material that has no home and tries to jam it through a spot market basically creates the incentive where the intermediaries or the producers that might occasionally like to buy, or the utilities that will buy, just step back. They wait to find how cheap is that person willing to sell it for. Then they pick it up once we find the bottom of the market. There's a volatility to the spot market that is almost completely disconnected from the fundamentals of the term market. I'm not saying ignore the spot price, but don't think of the spot price as the indicator of where uranium is going. Spend more time thinking about that long-term price. That long-term price has been on a steady up and to the right march. It's now at $93 U.S. per pound U.S. We have never seen uranium prices this high on the front end of a contracting cycle. We have seen uranium prices this high when we have been through above replacement rate contracting cycle. We are not even at replacement rate. We haven't been in a replacement cycle since 2012. We are already at $93 uranium price. That feels pretty good for an incumbent producer. I don't yet know when more demand is coming to the market. So we are in supply discipline waiting for it. I think one of the remarkable things about. I've built supply-demand models across various dozens of commodities. The demand side for uranium nuclear is amazing because there's 440 reactors. There's a picture of every one of them. You know exactly how much they're consuming. Into that market, we're building 70-ish. In that market, there is the potential to restart perhaps two dozen and maybe more reactors. Specifically, if you think in a post-Fukushima world where Japan made the choice to take roughly 30+ reactors offline, roughly two dozen of those can come back. There are reactors in Europe that can come back. There's certainly reactors in the U.S. that come back. The lead time for those reactors to turn on, talk to that. If I make a decision, if Japan makes a decision today and looks and says, we cannot obtain LNG for power. We don't want to pay the price of LNG for power. We don't want to subsidize utilities. We want to restart nuclear." What does that set of dominoes look like, and when does that show up in price? Generally, an announcement to restart a reactor that is shut down, the demand for the fuel begins right away. As part of the shutdown process, that utility probably worked through its strategic inventory. Now it actually has a restocking demand. When California announced that the Diablo Canyon units wouldn't shut down and they would extend, the poor fuel buyer for Diablo Canyon who just had sold off the last of their inventory at a cheap price, then had to go buy back uranium at a much more expensive price. Usually, that demand begins right away because of the lead times between procuring the uranium and then having it as a bespoke fuel bundle. In terms of the time it takes to turn on reactors, it just completely varies. It varies on the state at which that reactor is sitting. I'll just give you an example. Germany often makes a big deal about the fact that they turned off all their reactors as they said they were going to do. Actually, six of those reactors are sitting in the warm standby condition that they would be sitting in during a fuel outage. Why? Because those are the power sources that will come back in a pinch. If that tap gets turned off completely, those reactors are coming back. That's different, for example, than Three Mile Island that's restarting with Constellation. That had been completely defueled. It had been completely cooled down. It really depends on where that reactor is sitting, and we have a bunch of reactors in Japan, in Western Europe, that are sitting basically in a warm standby of readiness and could come back relatively quickly. Others are going to need a lot more capital or a lot more work, but compared to a greenfield nuclear, it's a pretty exciting prospect. Talk to financial strategy. Your balance sheet's extremely strong. Net debt versus market cap's extremely low. You're generating free cash flow. Your capital programs are modest and funded. Ultimately, what's the right balance sheet? What's the right use of cash flow, and maybe over what time? How do you think about that? Yeah. I've mentioned a few times that because the uranium part of our business hasn't hit replacement rate contracting yet. We're still in supply discipline. While we're in supply discipline and we only have 70% of our licensed and permitted production up and running, it means that we're still conservative financially. We can't control when utilities bring their demand to the market, and we have to set our financial strategy to be at least as patient as they are, if not slightly more patient than they are. That's what really is driving the conservativism. As we look for opportunities through the fuel cycle, we generally fund our growth out of our forward contracts. Things like growth in the uranium segment is going to come from uranium contracts. Growth in the conversion segment is going to come from conversion contracts. Where we're seeing an opportunity to deploy capital is maybe in enrichment. We don't have a contract book for enrichment, that is something we're looking at quite closely and seeing if the right conditions are there. At some point, if AP1000s take off on a fleet scale, Westinghouse is going to have to deploy more capital. I don't mean Cameco putting capital into Westinghouse, but maybe we let them hang on to more of their capital for reinvestment. Take less out. a smaller distribution. We don't intend to put fresh capital into them. That is, in effect, a capital allocation decision. We used to be in power generation as a company. We were an owner of Bruce Power until 2013. As we see different markets look for funding structures to build, we will assess, is that a good investment for us? It generally isn't. It generally isn't. Our cost of capital can't typically compete with those infrastructure-like funds. It is something we're not afraid of if the right opportunity came along. Ultimately, we're going to be in a return of capital mode. We will find ourselves with a cash generation that exceeds our ability to invest in it over the time frames of nuclear investment. Exactly what that looks like, it's probably going to be a bit of an all of the above strategy. Maybe in the last minute or so, what's ultimately the value proposition for buying Cameco shares? We think that probably the best way to think about us is we have assembled a collection of incredibly scarce strategic assets. Assets that are in sovereign, safe jurisdictions, assets with incredible brownfield leverage. I'm talking spanning exploration all the way through to the reactor space. Assets that are in regulatory environments, which means competition isn't going to pop up overnight. It takes a long time for people to replicate what we have. We have unique capabilities and unique technologies. Ultimately, if you look jurisdiction after jurisdiction, a lot of lights are on because of what we do. A lot of factories and jobs are there because of what we do, and we think it's at that strategic core of unique, scarce assets that drives the valuation of Cameco. We think more and more people are starting to realize that fundamental role we play from cradle to grave across the nuclear industry, and we just continue to hunt strategic assets when they're available. Fantastic. With that, I thank you, Grant. I thank you in the audience. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Speaker 1: Good morning, and welcome again to the 42nd Annual Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference. We are not expecting a fire drill, and so if you hear an alarm, please take it seriously. Your primary path of exit is straight out the back door. Escalators will take you to the ground floor. You'll exit to the street and await further instructions. If, for whatever reason, it seems hard to believe that that path would be blocked, there is an internal staircase just to the left where I'm pointing, and you'll choose that. Go down, follow the lights there, and again, exit out onto the street. I am Bob Brackett, Bernstein's Co-Head of Energy and Transition and Global Metals and Mining. I will be hosting this fireside chat with Grant Isaac, the President and COO of Cameco, but ultimately, this is your fireside chat. Good morning, and welcome again to the 42nd Annual Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference. good morning and welcome again to the 42nd annual bernstein strategic decisions conference We are not expecting a fire drill, and so if you hear an alarm, please take it seriously. we are not expecting a fire drill and so if you hear an alarm please take it seriously Your primary path of exit is straight out the back door. your primary path of exit is straight out the back door Escalators will take you to the ground floor. escalators will take you to the ground floor You'll exit to the street and await further instructions. you'll exit to the street and await further instructions If, for whatever reason, it seems hard to believe that that path would be blocked, there is an internal staircase just to the left where I'm pointing, and you'll choose that. if for whatever reason it seems hard to believe that that path would be blocked there is an internal staircase just to the left where i'm pointing and you'll choose that Go down, follow the lights there, and again, exit out onto the street. go down follow the lights there and again exit out onto the street I am Bob Brackett, Bernstein's Co-Head of Energy and Transition and Global Metals and Mining. i am bob brackett bernstein's co-head of energy and transition and global metals and mining I will be hosting this fireside chat with Grant Isaac, the President and COO of Cameco, but ultimately, this is your fireside chat. i will be hosting this fireside chat with grant isaac the president and coo of cameco but ultimately this is your fireside chat The way you can join the conversation is through the QR codes you've been given, that will take you to Pigeonhole. You can use that to ask questions, which will appear on my phone and then the iPad up here. With that, I will adjourn, and we'll begin our conversation. First of all, Grant, thanks very much for joining us. The way you can join the conversation is through the QR codes you've been given, that will take you to Pigeonhole. the way you can join the conversation is through the qr codes you've been given that will take you to pigeonhole You can use that to ask questions, which will appear on my phone and then the iPad up here. you can use that to ask questions which will appear on my phone and then the ipad up here With that, I will adjourn, and we'll begin our conversation. with that i will adjourn and we'll begin our conversation First of all, Grant, thanks very much for joining us. first of all grant thanks very much for joining us

Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you very much. Really pleased to be here. Yeah, thank you very much. yeah thank you very much Really pleased to be here. really pleased to be here

Speaker 1: I was saying earlier, we've had the majority of the S&P Energy Index by market cap here this week, and I've spent most of this week in the Regent Room, which is down the hall, and it's one of the smallest rooms. Apparently, oil and gas can be well-contained, uranium can't. This is your first time here doing a fireside chat. We're going to talk about you all for the next 50 minutes, but maybe in two, three, four minutes, talk about Cameco. Introduce yourselves, and then we'll jump in from there. I was saying earlier, we've had the majority of the S&P Energy Index by market cap here this week, and I've spent most of this week in the Regent Room, which is down the hall, and it's one of the smallest rooms. i was saying earlier we've had the majority of the s&p energy index by market cap here this week and i've spent most of this week in the regent room which is down the hall and it's one of the smallest rooms Apparently, oil and gas can be well-contained, uranium can't. apparently oil and gas can be well-contained uranium can't This is your first time here doing a fireside chat. this is your first time here doing a fireside chat We're going to talk about you all for the next 50 minutes, but maybe in two, three, four minutes, talk about Cameco. we're going to talk about you all for the next 50 minutes but maybe in two three four minutes talk about cameco Introduce yourselves, and then we'll jump in from there. introduce yourselves and then we'll jump in from there

Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely happy to do that. By the way, I do encourage questions from the floor. Really interested in what you're thinking. Your questions help us understand where our story is being understood and where it's not being understood as well. Please, would love to hear from you. When you think about Cameco, I think one of the themes that we often use is that we are a nuclear pure-play company, but we are right across the entire spectrum of the industry. Everything from the biggest exploration land package in the Athabasca Basin, in the prolific Athabasca uranium basin in Saskatchewan, largest uranium mines, highest grade uranium mines. We operate the world's largest uranium mill. As you start to work your way downstream, world's largest uranium refinery, Western World's largest converter of uranium as we start to work through the stages. Yeah, absolutely happy to do that. yeah absolutely happy to do that By the way, I do encourage questions from the floor. by the way i do encourage questions from the floor Really interested in what you're thinking. really interested in what you're thinking Your questions help us understand where our story is being understood and where it's not being understood as well. your questions help us understand where our story is being understood and where it's not being understood as well Please, would love to hear from you. please would love to hear from you When you think about Cameco, I think one of the themes that we often use is that we are a nuclear pure-play company, but we are right across the entire spectrum of the industry. when you think about cameco i think one of the themes that we often use is that we are a nuclear pure-play company but we are right across the entire spectrum of the industry Everything from the biggest exploration land package in the Athabasca Basin, in the prolific Athabasca uranium basin in Saskatchewan, largest uranium mines, highest grade uranium mines. everything from the biggest exploration land package in the athabasca basin in the prolific athabasca uranium basin in saskatchewan largest uranium mines highest grade uranium mines We operate the world's largest uranium mill. we operate the world's largest uranium mill As you start to work your way downstream, world's largest uranium refinery, Western World's largest converter of uranium as we start to work through the stages. as you start to work your way downstream world's largest uranium refinery western world's largest converter of uranium as we start to work through the stages We're not in the enrichment business, but it is something we're very interested in being a part of and have quite a unique investment in the enrichment space. We find ourselves in the fuel fabrication space for reactors, and between what we do as Cameco for pressurized heavy water reactors, the Canadian CANDU reactors, and what Westinghouse, which we own half of with Brookfield, does for the rest of the global fleet. About 65% of all the fuel in Western reactors comes through either our facility or Westinghouse's facility. Of course, Westinghouse provides incredible reactor services. They are involved in most of the operating plants in some way, shape, or form, and have the best-in-class gigawatt scale reactor, the AP1000. Now we're across the reactor cycle as well. We're not in the enrichment business, but it is something we're very interested in being a part of and have quite a unique investment in the enrichment space. we're not in the enrichment business but it is something we're very interested in being a part of and have quite a unique investment in the enrichment space We find ourselves in the fuel fabrication space for reactors, and between what we do as Cameco for pressurized heavy water reactors, the Canadian CANDU reactors, and what Westinghouse, which we own half of with Brookfield, does for the rest of the global fleet. we find ourselves in the fuel fabrication space for reactors and between what we do as cameco for pressurized heavy water reactors the canadian candu reactors and what westinghouse which we own half of with brookfield does for the rest of the global fleet About 65% of all the fuel in Western reactors comes through either our facility or Westinghouse's facility. about 65% of all the fuel in western reactors comes through either our facility or westinghouse's facility Of course, Westinghouse provides incredible reactor services. of course westinghouse provides incredible reactor services They are involved in most of the operating plants in some way, shape, or form, and have the best-in-class gigawatt scale reactor, the AP1000. they are involved in most of the operating plants in some way shape or form and have the best-in-class gigawatt scale reactor the ap1000 Now we're across the reactor cycle as well. now we're across the reactor cycle as well We're putting a big shoulder into that as Cameco, but also as Brookfield, our co-owner of Westinghouse, because the idea of starting to build gigawatt scale reactors in a fleet way in the Western world is actually the creation of 80-100 years of demand for our core business. It really is about taking control of the main drivers of our industry and then bringing that back into the core of our business. I would just maybe end the advertisement with the nuclear industry has been repriced. If you look at the fuel cycle, you've seen strong repricing in many of the stages. The repricing hasn't fully hit uranium yet, but uranium price is up, and it's up in a very healthy way. The way we contract our services forward under long-term contracts means that all that pricing power is still in front of us. We're putting a big shoulder into that as Cameco, but also as Brookfield, our co-owner of Westinghouse, because the idea of starting to build gigawatt scale reactors in a fleet way in the Western world is actually the creation of 80-100 years of demand for our core business. we're putting a big shoulder into that as cameco but also as brookfield our co-owner of westinghouse because the idea of starting to build gigawatt scale reactors in a fleet way in the western world is actually the creation of 80-100 years of demand for our core business It really is about taking control of the main drivers of our industry and then bringing that back into the core of our business. it really is about taking control of the main drivers of our industry and then bringing that back into the core of our business I would just maybe end the advertisement with the nuclear industry has been repriced. i would just maybe end the advertisement with the nuclear industry has been repriced If you look at the fuel cycle, you've seen strong repricing in many of the stages. if you look at the fuel cycle you've seen strong repricing in many of the stages The repricing hasn't fully hit uranium yet, but uranium price is up, and it's up in a very healthy way. the repricing hasn't fully hit uranium yet but uranium price is up and it's up in a very healthy way The way we contract our services forward under long-term contracts means that all that pricing power is still in front of us. the way we contract our services forward under long-term contracts means that all that pricing power is still in front of us All the cash flow and earnings that come from producing from a Tier 1 asset base with stronger prices now flowing through the contract portfolio, that's all still in front of us. We're very, very excited about our position in this industry. We're very, very excited about this industry, and we think there's a lot to talk about and a lot to unpack. Thank you for that opportunity. All the cash flow and earnings that come from producing from a Tier 1 asset base with stronger prices now flowing through the contract portfolio, that's all still in front of us. all the cash flow and earnings that come from producing from a tier 1 asset base with stronger prices now flowing through the contract portfolio that's all still in front of us We're very, very excited about our position in this industry. we're very very excited about our position in this industry We're very, very excited about this industry, and we think there's a lot to talk about and a lot to unpack. we're very very excited about this industry and we think there's a lot to talk about and a lot to unpack Thank you for that opportunity. thank you for that opportunity

Speaker 1: Fantastic. I'm going to start with a very short-term question, and then I'm going to ask a very long-term question. On the very short-term, we are now effectively 90 days, 91 days into an energy crisis, an oil crisis where 20% of the world's oil can't exit the Strait of Hormuz. It can find its way around. 20% of the world's LNG, similarly. No real impact on nuclear power, on uranium cycles. Has anything around today's energy crisis changed your thinking of how we should consider uranium and nuclear? Fantastic. fantastic I'm going to start with a very short-term question, and then I'm going to ask a very long-term question. i'm going to start with a very short-term question and then i'm going to ask a very long-term question On the very short-term, we are now effectively 90 days, 91 days into an energy crisis, an oil crisis where 20% of the world's oil can't exit the Strait of Hormuz. on the very short-term we are now effectively 90 days 91 days into an energy crisis an oil crisis where 20% of the world's oil can't exit the strait of hormuz It can find its way around. 20% of the world's LNG, similarly. it can find its way around 20% of the world's lng similarly No real impact on nuclear power, on uranium cycles. no real impact on nuclear power on uranium cycles Has anything around today's energy crisis changed your thinking of how we should consider uranium and nuclear? has anything around today's energy crisis changed your thinking of how we should consider uranium and nuclear

Speaker 2: The last time the Western world built out nuclear reactors on a fleet scale was a Middle East energy crisis. That's what led to the 58 reactors in France and the nearly 60 reactors in Japan at one time, and the 104 reactors in the U.S. and the 21 in Canada. Energy security is a really difficult lesson for nations to learn, and we're in the grip of an energy security crisis. I would say it didn't start with the recent Middle East action, it really started with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the realization that some really important Western economies had bargained away their energy sovereignty to Russia. That began a real focus on energy security. That combined with the climate security attributes of nuclear. The last time the Western world built out nuclear reactors on a fleet scale was a Middle East energy crisis. the last time the western world built out nuclear reactors on a fleet scale was a middle east energy crisis That's what led to the 58 reactors in France and the nearly 60 reactors in Japan at one time, and the 104 reactors in the U.S. and the 21 in Canada. that's what led to the 58 reactors in france and the nearly 60 reactors in japan at one time and the 104 reactors in the u.s and the 21 in canada Energy security is a really difficult lesson for nations to learn, and we're in the grip of an energy security crisis. energy security is a really difficult lesson for nations to learn and we're in the grip of an energy security crisis I would say it didn't start with the recent Middle East action, it really started with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the realization that some really important Western economies had bargained away their energy sovereignty to Russia. i would say it didn't start with the recent middle east action it really started with the russian invasion of ukraine and the realization that some really important western economies had bargained away their energy sovereignty to russia That began a real focus on energy security. that began a real focus on energy security That combined with the climate security attributes of nuclear. that combined with the climate security attributes of nuclear Now if there's a third leg to the stool for our industry, it's actually the linkage of our industry with national security. The idea that there is a race for generative AI and agentic AI, the critical path item for that is electrons. Electrons that are 24-hour, electrons that are base load, electrons that are resilient and robust, coming from an energy system that is highly reliable. Those three things have really come together, and I would say, the crisis we're seeing right now in the Middle East is actually just adding fuel to a fire that was already burning and already helping the nuclear industry, I think, regain its appropriate role in national considerations of climate, energy, and national security. Now if there's a third leg to the stool for our industry, it's actually the linkage of our industry with national security. now if there's a third leg to the stool for our industry it's actually the linkage of our industry with national security The idea that there is a race for generative AI and agentic AI, the critical path item for that is electrons. the idea that there is a race for generative ai and agentic ai the critical path item for that is electrons Electrons that are 24-hour, electrons that are base load, electrons that are resilient and robust, coming from an energy system that is highly reliable. electrons that are 24-hour electrons that are base load electrons that are resilient and robust coming from an energy system that is highly reliable Those three things have really come together, and I would say, the crisis we're seeing right now in the Middle East is actually just adding fuel to a fire that was already burning and already helping the nuclear industry, I think, regain its appropriate role in national considerations of climate, energy, and national security. those three things have really come together and i would say the crisis we're seeing right now in the middle east is actually just adding fuel to a fire that was already burning and already helping the nuclear industry i think regain its appropriate role in national considerations of climate energy and national security

Speaker 1: The very long-term question, amidst that backdrop, if we think about net zero ambitions, if you go back five or 10 years, and we had a number of countries around the world pledging or directing themselves to do less of something. Frankly, the results might've been disappointing. Now we have countries around the world pledging to do something. 38 countries, maybe more, it moves around, have pledged to triple nuclear power by 2050. That's adding something like 1,000 world scale AP1000 reactors. These are countries from China, from the U.S., goes down through the developed Europe, goes down to developing economies in Africa, Senegal, for example. What do you think of that pledge? That sort of, if that's real, that's a 5% CAGR in reactor builds out to 2050. How real is that? Can it be achieved? The very long-term question, amidst that backdrop, if we think about net zero ambitions, if you go back five or 10 years, and we had a number of countries around the world pledging or directing themselves to do less of something. the very long-term question amidst that backdrop if we think about net zero ambitions if you go back five or 10 years and we had a number of countries around the world pledging or directing themselves to do less of something Frankly, the results might've been disappointing. frankly the results might've been disappointing Now we have countries around the world pledging to do something. 38 countries, maybe more, it moves around, have pledged to triple nuclear power by 2050. now we have countries around the world pledging to do something 38 countries maybe more it moves around have pledged to triple nuclear power by 2050 That's adding something like 1,000 world scale AP1000 reactors. that's adding something like 1,000 world scale ap1000 reactors These are countries from China, from the U.S., goes down through the developed Europe, goes down to developing economies in Africa, Senegal, for example. these are countries from china from the u.s goes down through the developed europe goes down to developing economies in africa senegal for example What do you think of that pledge? what do you think of that pledge That sort of, if that's real, that's a 5% CAGR in reactor builds out to 2050. that sort of if that's real that's a 5% cagr in reactor builds out to 2050 How real is that? how real is that Can it be achieved? can it be achieved

Speaker 2: The tripling nuclear pledge really was, I think, the result of the factors that we just discussed. A couple of years ago at COP28, it was the recognition of nuclear's attributes for climate security, of course. It was at COP28. It was also the context of the energy security and the national security which came together. We often look at those kind of announcements and we say, boy, it would be great if we just got started. What I think a lot of people lose sight of is actually there's 73 reactors under construction today. This isn't something we're waiting for. A lot of nations have continued to build through Central and Eastern Europe. Nuclear new build didn't stop. It just happened to be Russian reactors, and now they're looking to pivot away from Russian reactors. The tripling nuclear pledge really was, I think, the result of the factors that we just discussed. the tripling nuclear pledge really was i think the result of the factors that we just discussed A couple of years ago at COP28, it was the recognition of nuclear's attributes for climate security, of course. a couple of years ago at cop28 it was the recognition of nuclear's attributes for climate security of course It was at COP28. it was at cop28 It was also the context of the energy security and the national security which came together. it was also the context of the energy security and the national security which came together We often look at those kind of announcements and we say, boy, it would be great if we just got started. we often look at those kind of announcements and we say boy it would be great if we just got started What I think a lot of people lose sight of is actually there's 73 reactors under construction today. what i think a lot of people lose sight of is actually there's 73 reactors under construction today This isn't something we're waiting for. this isn't something we're waiting for A lot of nations have continued to build through Central and Eastern Europe. a lot of nations have continued to build through central and eastern europe Nuclear new build didn't stop. nuclear new build didn't stop It just happened to be Russian reactors, and now they're looking to pivot away from Russian reactors. it just happened to be russian reactors and now they're looking to pivot away from russian reactors Slovakia just brought on two brand-new reactors in the last two years. When you look around the world, over 70 reactors currently under construction, and really the focus now is how do we get launch conditions in a nation like the United States? We're going to see new build, and we are seeing new build in Canada. We're going to see new build in Poland, in Bulgaria. You've got a number of Western European countries evaluating new build going on in the U.K. A lot of people, I think, look at the absence of new build in the United States and just assume that must be what's going on everywhere else. Well, actually everywhere else is finding launch conditions, and it's the U.S. that is lagging a little bit. I would say the urgency to catch up is quite significant. Slovakia just brought on two brand-new reactors in the last two years. slovakia just brought on two brand-new reactors in the last two years When you look around the world, over 70 reactors currently under construction, and really the focus now is how do we get launch conditions in a nation like the United States? when you look around the world over 70 reactors currently under construction and really the focus now is how do we get launch conditions in a nation like the united states We're going to see new build, and we are seeing new build in Canada. we're going to see new build and we are seeing new build in canada We're going to see new build in Poland, in Bulgaria. we're going to see new build in poland in bulgaria You've got a number of Western European countries evaluating new build going on in the U.K. you've got a number of western european countries evaluating new build going on in the u.k A lot of people, I think, look at the absence of new build in the United States and just assume that must be what's going on everywhere else. a lot of people i think look at the absence of new build in the united states and just assume that must be what's going on everywhere else Well, actually everywhere else is finding launch conditions, and it's the U.S. that is lagging a little bit. well actually everywhere else is finding launch conditions and it's the u.s that is lagging a little bit I would say the urgency to catch up is quite significant. i would say the urgency to catch up is quite significant This is just adding to a base of growth that was already underway, and a base of growth which is very exciting for an incumbent nuclear fuel producer like us. This is just adding to a base of growth that was already underway, and a base of growth which is very exciting for an incumbent nuclear fuel producer like us. this is just adding to a base of growth that was already underway and a base of growth which is very exciting for an incumbent nuclear fuel producer like us

Speaker 1: Given this line of sight of new builds and given a question that we just had come in, the question is, and we'll jump ahead into Westinghouse, and then we'll come back to some macro. The idea is from the outside, things appear to have stalled on the $80 billion AP1000 agreement with the U.S. Are things still on the rails? Given this line of sight of new builds and given a question that we just had come in, the question is, and we'll jump ahead into Westinghouse, and then we'll come back to some macro. given this line of sight of new builds and given a question that we just had come in the question is and we'll jump ahead into westinghouse and then we'll come back to some macro The idea is from the outside, things appear to have stalled on the $80 billion AP1000 agreement with the U.S. the idea is from the outside things appear to have stalled on the $80 billion ap1000 agreement with the u.s Are things still on the rails? are things still on the rails

Speaker 2: Last fall, we announced an agreement to Cameco, Brookfield, Westinghouse, with the Department of Commerce to really solve the challenge of new build in the U.S. I don't mean to use this as a pejorative term at all, but really the conditions in the U.S. were really to go after the bronze medal, not the gold medal. What I mean there is you had utilities under a lot of pressure by the administration and past administrations to start building. Of course, the last build in the U.S., we're not at first of a kind for AP1000s, but we're not yet at nth of a kind for AP1000s. We're still in that transition, next of a kind costs, working our way down to nth of a kind. There wasn't an appreciation for the challenge that creates for an individual utility. Last fall, we announced an agreement to Cameco, Brookfield, Westinghouse, with the Department of Commerce to really solve the challenge of new build in the U.S. last fall we announced an agreement to cameco brookfield westinghouse with the department of commerce to really solve the challenge of new build in the u.s I don't mean to use this as a pejorative term at all, but really the conditions in the U.S. were really to go after the bronze medal, not the gold medal. i don't mean to use this as a pejorative term at all but really the conditions in the u.s were really to go after the bronze medal not the gold medal What I mean there is you had utilities under a lot of pressure by the administration and past administrations to start building. what i mean there is you had utilities under a lot of pressure by the administration and past administrations to start building Of course, the last build in the U.S., we're not at first of a kind for AP1000s, but we're not yet at nth of a kind for AP1000s. of course the last build in the u.s we're not at first of a kind for ap1000s but we're not yet at nth of a kind for ap1000s We're still in that transition, next of a kind costs, working our way down to nth of a kind. we're still in that transition next of a kind costs working our way down to nth of a kind There wasn't an appreciation for the challenge that creates for an individual utility. there wasn't an appreciation for the challenge that creates for an individual utility That utility that stepped forward and put up its hand and said, I want to build the next two AP1000s, was effectively saying, I want to build the next two most expensive AP1000s, because we're not at nth of a kind yet. The appropriate response from stakeholders was, well, why don't you wait and let somebody else go first? Even better, let somebody else go second. Do one and two, three and four, and why don't you be five and six What we saw was the emergence of this really big order book for units five, six, and beyond, and a very small order book for one and two and three and four. That utility that stepped forward and put up its hand and said, I want to build the next two AP1000s, was effectively saying, I want to build the next two most expensive AP1000s, because we're not at nth of a kind yet. that utility that stepped forward and put up its hand and said i want to build the next two ap1000s was effectively saying i want to build the next two most expensive ap1000s because we're not at nth of a kind yet The appropriate response from stakeholders was, well, why don't you wait and let somebody else go first? the appropriate response from stakeholders was well why don't you wait and let somebody else go first Even better, let somebody else go second. even better let somebody else go second Do one and two, three and four, and why don't you be five and six What we saw was the emergence of this really big order book for units five, six , and beyond, and a very small order book for one and two and three and four. do one and two three and four and why don't you be five and six what we saw was the emergence of this really big order book for units five, six and beyond and a very small order book for one and two and three and four The Department of Commerce, I think, as well as the Department of Energy, so Secretary Lutnick and Secretary Wright, have really recognized that this is the challenge in the United States. How do you turn a race for the bronze medal into a race for the gold medal? Whether it's the Department of Commerce looking at the next of a kind funding, harnessing foreign direct investment pledges made to the United States by countries like Japan, South Korea, and others in order to buy down tariff rates, or whether it's using tools in the DOE toolbox, how do you shift that incentive so that the one who goes first, who by the way, is going to stand up a supply chain and create very significant economic multipliers and very significant cluster multipliers that don't accrue to the first mover, they accrue to everybody else. The Department of Commerce, I think, as well as the Department of Energy, so Secretary Lutnick and Secretary Wright, have really recognized that this is the challenge in the United States. the department of commerce i think as well as the department of energy so secretary lutnick and secretary wright have really recognized that this is the challenge in the united states How do you turn a race for the bronze medal into a race for the gold medal? how do you turn a race for the bronze medal into a race for the gold medal Whether it's the Department of Commerce looking at the next of a kind funding, harnessing foreign direct investment pledges made to the United States by countries like Japan, South Korea, and others in order to buy down tariff rates, or whether it's using tools in the DOE toolbox, how do you shift that incentive so that the one who goes first, who by the way, is going to stand up a supply chain and create very significant economic multipliers and very significant cluster multipliers that don't accrue to the first mover, they accrue to everybody else. whether it's the department of commerce looking at the next of a kind funding harnessing foreign direct investment pledges made to the united states by countries like japan south korea and others in order to buy down tariff rates or whether it's using tools in the doe toolbox how do you shift that incentive so that the one who goes first who by the way is going to stand up a supply chain and create very significant economic multipliers and very significant cluster multipliers that don't accrue to the first mover they accrue to everybody else How do you share in that? That's the effort that's underway, and I would say a lot of momentum continues down these two tracks, both Department of Commerce and Department of Energy. I think the leadership understands the challenge and the hunger for the 24-hour base load carbon-free electrons that come from these incredible industrial cathedrals that are AP1000s that are going to run for 80 to 100 years. That demand is there. It's just getting that coalition built in a industry-led, government-enabled model, unlike countries like Poland and Bulgaria, where you have the state with a state-regulated utility taking the lead and taking on all those risks. We're trying to have the private sector drive those risks for the first time, which that's what created that race for the bronze. How do you share in that? how do you share in that That's the effort that's underway, and I would say a lot of momentum continues down these two tracks, both Department of Commerce and Department of Energy. that's the effort that's underway and i would say a lot of momentum continues down these two tracks both department of commerce and department of energy I think the leadership understands the challenge and the hunger for the 24-hour base load carbon-free electrons that come from these incredible industrial cathedrals that are AP1000s that are going to run for 80 to 100 years. i think the leadership understands the challenge and the hunger for the 24-hour base load carbon-free electrons that come from these incredible industrial cathedrals that are ap1000s that are going to run for 80 to 100 years That demand is there. that demand is there It's just getting that coalition built in a industry-led, government-enabled model, unlike countries like Poland and Bulgaria, where you have the state with a state-regulated utility taking the lead and taking on all those risks. it's just getting that coalition built in a industry-led government-enabled model unlike countries like poland and bulgaria where you have the state with a state-regulated utility taking the lead and taking on all those risks We're trying to have the private sector drive those risks for the first time, which that's what created that race for the bronze. we're trying to have the private sector drive those risks for the first time which that's what created that race for the bronze It's that race for the gold that we're trying to create here, and I would say lots of momentum. It's that race for the gold that we're trying to create here, and I would say lots of momentum. it's that race for the gold that we're trying to create here and i would say lots of momentum

Speaker 1: I think in your explicit guidance for 2026 is some moving forward, right? An explicit guide of not a deal, not a CAD 10 billion, but something signed, something binding. I think in your explicit guidance for 2026 is some moving forward, right? i think in your explicit guidance for 2026 is some moving forward right An explicit guide of not a deal, not a CAD 10 billion, but something signed, something binding. an explicit guide of not a deal not a cad 10 billion but something signed something binding

Speaker 2: Our current business plan for Westinghouse does have some preliminary work being done on evaluating new build in the U.S. The way that new build normally happens in our industry is, often it's a state that makes the decision to build new nuclear, tells a state-owned utility to do a reactor down selection. We go through a process where they consider the technology that they can use. When the technology is chosen, that generally kicks off a series of engineering contracts, front-end engineering and design, not to change the reactor. If you think about our AP1000, it is the only gigawatt scale reactor that's fully deployable today and fully designed to the construction level of design. Our current business plan for Westinghouse does have some preliminary work being done on evaluating new build in the U.S. our current business plan for westinghouse does have some preliminary work being done on evaluating new build in the u.s The way that new build normally happens in our industry is, often it's a state that makes the decision to build new nuclear, tells a state-owned utility to do a reactor down selection. the way that new build normally happens in our industry is often it's a state that makes the decision to build new nuclear tells a state-owned utility to do a reactor down selection We go through a process where they consider the technology that they can use. we go through a process where they consider the technology that they can use When the technology is chosen, that generally kicks off a series of engineering contracts, front-end engineering and design, not to change the reactor. when the technology is chosen that generally kicks off a series of engineering contracts front-end engineering and design not to change the reactor If you think about our AP1000, it is the only gigawatt scale reactor that's fully deployable today and fully designed to the construction level of design. if you think about our ap1000 it is the only gigawatt scale reactor that's fully deployable today and fully designed to the construction level of design Not just the engineering level of design, but the construction level of design because there are two operating in the United States, four operating in China, another eight under construction in China. We know how to build those. We know where every millivolt wire goes in an AP1000. You have front-end engineering and design to locate that product in a place where it's never been before. Westinghouse will often see in its energy systems business, the pickup of that cashflow and earnings from that front-end engineering and design. There's a Feed 1, a Feed 2. Feed 2 results in an estimate to complete. The estimate to complete drives the final investment decision. At final investment decision, you kick off a very significant procurement part of Westinghouse's business to buy all the long lead items, for example. Not just the engineering level of design, but the construction level of design because there are two operating in the United States, four operating in China, another eight under construction in China. not just the engineering level of design but the construction level of design because there are two operating in the united states four operating in china another eight under construction in china We know how to build those. we know how to build those We know where every millivolt wire goes in an AP1000. we know where every millivolt wire goes in an ap1000 You have front-end engineering and design to locate that product in a place where it's never been before. you have front-end engineering and design to locate that product in a place where it's never been before Westinghouse will often see in its energy systems business, the pickup of that cashflow and earnings from that front-end engineering and design. westinghouse will often see in its energy systems business the pickup of that cashflow and earnings from that front-end engineering and design There's a Feed 1, a Feed 2. there's a feed 1 a feed 2 Feed 2 results in an estimate to complete. feed 2 results in an estimate to complete The estimate to complete drives the final investment decision. the estimate to complete drives the final investment decision At final investment decision, you kick off a very significant procurement part of Westinghouse's business to buy all the long lead items, for example. at final investment decision you kick off a very significant procurement part of westinghouse's business to buy all the long lead items for example E, engineering, comes before P, procurement. What's interesting about the United States model is there's an effort underway to help go from a race for the bronze to a race for the gold by pulling the procurement out in front of engineering. To say to utilities, we understand one of the things you're worried about is being the one who stands up the supply chain and takes on all that risk yourself. What if we can find a mechanism where maybe it's the U.S. government that takes the lead on ordering the kit for 10 reactors all up front, and it's not a single utility taking that on themselves. In which case, P, procurement, will come before E, the engineering part of it. It really is a shift to the business model for Westinghouse. Right now, nothing's at FID. E, engineering, comes before P, procurement. e engineering comes before p procurement What's interesting about the United States model is there's an effort underway to help go from a race for the bronze to a race for the gold by pulling the procurement out in front of engineering. what's interesting about the united states model is there's an effort underway to help go from a race for the bronze to a race for the gold by pulling the procurement out in front of engineering To say to utilities, we understand one of the things you're worried about is being the one who stands up the supply chain and takes on all that risk yourself. to say to utilities we understand one of the things you're worried about is being the one who stands up the supply chain and takes on all that risk yourself What if we can find a mechanism where maybe it's the U.S. government that takes the lead on ordering the kit for 10 reactors all up front, and it's not a single utility taking that on themselves. what if we can find a mechanism where maybe it's the u.s government that takes the lead on ordering the kit for 10 reactors all up front and it's not a single utility taking that on themselves In which case, P, procurement, will come before E, the engineering part of it. in which case p procurement will come before e the engineering part of it It really is a shift to the business model for Westinghouse. it really is a shift to the business model for westinghouse Right now, nothing's at FID. right now nothing's at fid There have been no agreements actually struck. We're in that traditional model of there is some engineering in there, but we're not at an estimate to complete. We're certainly not at FID, and that's a precondition for us to start changing the growth rate of Westinghouse, because if we started to make assumptions about where reactors are going to be. The reality is that when you tour around the world and look at the U.S. and look at Canada and Poland and Bulgaria, perhaps Saudi Arabia, maybe the UAE through Western Europe, you have about 70 AP1000s that are under serious discussion. None of them are at FID, they're under very serious discussion. If we make up a number and say, well, we think 15 are going to be started five years from now, the only thing I know for sure is that number's going to be wrong. There have been no agreements actually struck. there have been no agreements actually struck We're in that traditional model of there is some engineering in there, but we're not at an estimate to complete. we're in that traditional model of there is some engineering in there but we're not at an estimate to complete We're certainly not at FID, and that's a precondition for us to start changing the growth rate of Westinghouse, because if we started to make assumptions about where reactors are going to be. The reality is that when you tour around the world and look at the U.S. and look at Canada and Poland and Bulgaria, perhaps Saudi Arabia, maybe the UAE through Western Europe, you have about 70 AP1000s that are under serious discussion. we're certainly not at fid and that's a precondition for us to start changing the growth rate of westinghouse because if we started to make assumptions about where reactors are going to be. the reality is that when you tour around the world and look at the u.s and look at canada and poland and bulgaria perhaps saudi arabia maybe the uae through western europe you have about 70 ap1000s that are under serious discussion None of them are at FID, they're under very serious discussion. none of them are at fid they're under very serious discussion If we make up a number and say, well, we think 15 are going to be started five years from now, the only thing I know for sure is that number's going to be wrong. if we make up a number and say well we think 15 are going to be started five years from now the only thing i know for sure is that number's going to be wrong For us, we wait for FID before we put it into the business plan. For us, we wait for FID before we put it into the business plan. for us we wait for fid before we put it into the business plan

Speaker 1: It's interesting. If you think about that EPC framework, you flip the P and the E, someone can take that P risk, the government, they can effectively warehouse, stockpile materials. The other challenge is of that EPC contract, maybe 25%-40% sits within the E and the P, that remainder sits in the C. The two challenges with construction in nuclear historically have been change orders. Change orders can arise from two places. A poorly designed workflow, and that's mitigatable. Regulatory surprises along the way are what can kill you. Suddenly, you go back to a regulator and they said, oh, what do you mean 6 inches? Should've been 7 inches. It's interesting. it's interesting If you think about that EPC framework, you flip the P and the E, someone can take that P risk, the government, they can effectively warehouse, stockpile materials. if you think about that epc framework you flip the p and the e someone can take that p risk the government they can effectively warehouse stockpile materials The other challenge is of that EPC contract, maybe 25%-40% sits within the E and the P, that remainder sits in the C. the other challenge is of that epc contract maybe 25%-40% sits within the e and the p that remainder sits in the c The two challenges with construction in nuclear historically have been change orders. the two challenges with construction in nuclear historically have been change orders Change orders can arise from two places. change orders can arise from two places A poorly designed workflow, and that's mitigatable. a poorly designed workflow and that's mitigatable Regulatory surprises along the way are what can kill you. regulatory surprises along the way are what can kill you Suddenly, you go back to a regulator and they said, oh, what do you mean 6 inches? suddenly you go back to a regulator and they said oh what do you mean 6 inches Should've been 7 inches. should've been 7 inches Talk about government support. From that perspective on the construction side. Talk about government support. talk about government support From that perspective on the construction side. from that perspective on the construction side

Speaker 2: Bruce Power in Canada is considering gigawatt scale new build. Their CEO, Eric Chassard, is quite unique in the nuclear community because he's actually an active CEO who has built nuclear reactors. He came out of the French nuclear industry, and he was responsible for finishing projects like the Taishan EPRs, like the Olkiluoto EPRs. Having played that role of having to fix projects that had gone off the rails, he's got a very clear vision of the risks that need to be managed by any utility making the decision for new build. I'm simply quoting him, but he says there are five big risks that a utility has to manage. The first is design risk. Don't build anything that's not yet designed. This has actually been the number one mistake in nuclear new build over the years. Bruce Power in Canada is considering gigawatt scale new build. bruce power in canada is considering gigawatt scale new build Their CEO, Eric Chassard, is quite unique in the nuclear community because he's actually an active CEO who has built nuclear reactors. their ceo eric chassard is quite unique in the nuclear community because he's actually an active ceo who has built nuclear reactors He came out of the French nuclear industry, and he was responsible for finishing projects like the Taishan EPRs, like the Olkiluoto EPRs. he came out of the french nuclear industry and he was responsible for finishing projects like the taishan eprs like the olkiluoto eprs Having played that role of having to fix projects that had gone off the rails, he's got a very clear vision of the risks that need to be managed by any utility making the decision for new build. having played that role of having to fix projects that had gone off the rails he's got a very clear vision of the risks that need to be managed by any utility making the decision for new build I'm simply quoting him, but he says there are five big risks that a utility has to manage. i'm simply quoting him but he says there are five big risks that a utility has to manage The first is design risk. the first is design risk Don't build anything that's not yet designed. don't build anything that's not yet designed This has actually been the number one mistake in nuclear new build over the years. this has actually been the number one mistake in nuclear new build over the years When the U.S., from its base of 104 reactors, there were actually 55 different models. Of those, many of those projects began before the design was properly locked down. Don't start construction until something's fully designed. Number two is fuel risk. A lot of reactors that are being proposed today are not only novel in their design as a reactor technology, I can't tell you today where the commercial fuel is coming from. I have no idea where it's going to be made, and I have no idea what it's going to cost. As Eric would say, that's like buying a fleet of electric vehicles and having no idea where you're going to plug it in. Have your design locked down, understand where your commercial fuel cycle is coming from. There's, as you say, a licensing risk. When the U.S., from its base of 104 reactors, there were actually 55 different models. when the u.s from its base of 104 reactors there were actually 55 different models Of those, many of those projects began before the design was properly locked down. of those many of those projects began before the design was properly locked down Don't start construction until something's fully designed. don't start construction until something's fully designed Number two is fuel risk. number two is fuel risk A lot of reactors that are being proposed today are not only novel in their design as a reactor technology, I can't tell you today where the commercial fuel is coming from. a lot of reactors that are being proposed today are not only novel in their design as a reactor technology i can't tell you today where the commercial fuel is coming from I have no idea where it's going to be made, and I have no idea what it's going to cost. i have no idea where it's going to be made and i have no idea what it's going to cost As Eric would say, that's like buying a fleet of electric vehicles and having no idea where you're going to plug it in. as eric would say that's like buying a fleet of electric vehicles and having no idea where you're going to plug it in Have your design locked down, understand where your commercial fuel cycle is coming from. have your design locked down understand where your commercial fuel cycle is coming from There's, as you say, a licensing risk. there's as you say a licensing risk Licensing risk is often quite open-ended in the nuclear industry. Why take on that risk? Why start with a novel design and then have this open-ended licensing project? The fourth risk is regulatory, distinct from licensing. Regulatory is the idea that even if you have something that's fully designed and you know where your commercial fuel is coming from, and you even have a license, you're going to locate it somewhere it's never been before. You're going to be doing first-of-a-kind regulatory reviews. Then if you can take care of those first four risks, you still have big project risk. When you look at something like our AP1000, it's the only gigawatt scale reactor available today that takes four of five risks off the table on day one. Now you're left with just big project risk. Licensing risk is often quite open-ended in the nuclear industry. licensing risk is often quite open-ended in the nuclear industry Why take on that risk? why take on that risk Why start with a novel design and then have this open-ended licensing project? why start with a novel design and then have this open-ended licensing project The fourth risk is regulatory, distinct from licensing. the fourth risk is regulatory distinct from licensing Regulatory is the idea that even if you have something that's fully designed and you know where your commercial fuel is coming from, and you even have a license, you're going to locate it somewhere it's never been before. regulatory is the idea that even if you have something that's fully designed and you know where your commercial fuel is coming from and you even have a license you're going to locate it somewhere it's never been before You're going to be doing first-of-a-kind regulatory reviews. you're going to be doing first-of-a-kind regulatory reviews Then if you can take care of those first four risks, you still have big project risk. then if you can take care of those first four risks you still have big project risk When you look at something like our AP1000, it's the only gigawatt scale reactor available today that takes four of five risks off the table on day one. when you look at something like our ap1000 it's the only gigawatt scale reactor available today that takes four of five risks off the table on day one Now you're left with just big project risk. now you're left with just big project risk This gets to Bob's point that when you think about a nuclear project, the unique nuclear stuff, the nuclear island, is only like 30% of the reactor. The rest of it is just a big civil engineering project. Lots of concrete, lots of steel, lots of steel buildings, lots of structure. The nuclear part is pretty well understood. What we see is when utilities talk about that fifth risk, and they talk about the big project risk, and they talk about the worries of cost overrun, they're actually not talking about the nuclear island. They're talking about the rest of the big civil project because it's been a while since somebody's done those big civil projects, whereas we know where all the long lead items are going to come from for the nuclear island. This gets to Bob's point that when you think about a nuclear project, the unique nuclear stuff, the nuclear island, is only like 30% of the reactor. this gets to bob's point that when you think about a nuclear project the unique nuclear stuff the nuclear island is only like 30% of the reactor The rest of it is just a big civil engineering project. the rest of it is just a big civil engineering project Lots of concrete, lots of steel, lots of steel buildings, lots of structure. lots of concrete lots of steel lots of steel buildings lots of structure The nuclear part is pretty well understood. the nuclear part is pretty well understood What we see is when utilities talk about that fifth risk, and they talk about the big project risk, and they talk about the worries of cost overrun, they're actually not talking about the nuclear island. what we see is when utilities talk about that fifth risk and they talk about the big project risk and they talk about the worries of cost overrun they're actually not talking about the nuclear island They're talking about the rest of the big civil project because it's been a while since somebody's done those big civil projects, whereas we know where all the long lead items are going to come from for the nuclear island. they're talking about the rest of the big civil project because it's been a while since somebody's done those big civil projects whereas we know where all the long lead items are going to come from for the nuclear island Putting that all together is the challenge, but we love the AP1000 technology because it's designed, we know exactly where the fuel is coming from. It has a license basis. It has a regulatory basis. In the hands of a utility like Bruce Power, which has been refurbishing all their reactors, they're going to be incredibly well-positioned to self-perform. We think that's about as low risk scenario as you could possibly find in nuclear. Putting that all together is the challenge, but we love the AP1000 technology because it's designed, we know exactly where the fuel is coming from. putting that all together is the challenge but we love the ap1000 technology because it's designed we know exactly where the fuel is coming from It has a license basis. it has a license basis It has a regulatory basis. it has a regulatory basis In the hands of a utility like Bruce Power, which has been refurbishing all their reactors, they're going to be incredibly well-positioned to self-perform. in the hands of a utility like bruce power which has been refurbishing all their reactors they're going to be incredibly well-positioned to self-perform We think that's about as low risk scenario as you could possibly find in nuclear. we think that's about as low risk scenario as you could possibly find in nuclear

Speaker 1: It's funny, I used to, in a past life, run a planning function, and you'd have projects come through. One of my favorite questions for engineers is, hey, are you doing anything cool on the project? If their eyes light up and they give you three cool things they're doing, you know that project is a bust. When they sort of sheepishly say, well, it's kind of like the thing we did last year, you're like, that's a project that's going to work. That segues me to, and I love the comments around building a new design with a new fuel. Put that in the context of SMR more broadly. Where are we in the SMR cycle? How bullish, accepting the fact that you have a model of your own for SMRs, small modular SMRs, normal 300MW SMRs? It's funny, I used to, in a past life, run a planning function, and you'd have projects come through. it's funny i used to in a past life run a planning function and you'd have projects come through One of my favorite questions for engineers is, hey, are you doing anything cool on the project? one of my favorite questions for engineers is hey are you doing anything cool on the project If their eyes light up and they give you three cool things they're doing, you know that project is a bust. if their eyes light up and they give you three cool things they're doing you know that project is a bust When they sort of sheepishly say, well, it's kind of like the thing we did last year, you're like, that's a project that's going to work. when they sort of sheepishly say well it's kind of like the thing we did last year you're like that's a project that's going to work That segues me to, and I love the comments around building a new design with a new fuel. that segues me to and i love the comments around building a new design with a new fuel Put that in the context of SMR more broadly. put that in the context of smr more broadly Where are we in the SMR cycle? where are we in the smr cycle How bullish, accepting the fact that you have a model of your own for SMRs, small modular SMRs, normal 300MW SMRs? how bullish accepting the fact that you have a model of your own for smrs, small modular smrs normal 300mw smrs How worried should we be that they come to market and beat the AP1000, for example? How worried should we be that they come to market and beat the AP1000, for example? how worried should we be that they come to market and beat the ap1000 for example

Speaker 2: I'm going to reveal some very conscious and probably deeply unconscious biases on this topic, so bear with me. I think what we're seeing is the market is really starting to mature into appropriate use cases for different reactor technologies. Actually, we're seeing some shift in the nomenclature where people aren't saying a micro-modular reactor or a small modular reactor or a large modular reactor, because in reality, there's nothing small about a small modular reactor. Ontario Power Generation right now is building a GE BWRX-300 small modular reactor. An AP1000 is only 10% bigger than a BWRX-300. The AP1000 produces 1,200 MW. The BWRX-300 produces 300 MW. The AP1000 is only 10% bigger. Actually, the notion of small and large is really quite blurred. I'm going to reveal some very conscious and probably deeply unconscious biases on this topic, so bear with me. i'm going to reveal some very conscious and probably deeply unconscious biases on this topic so bear with me I think what we're seeing is the market is really starting to mature into appropriate use cases for different reactor technologies. i think what we're seeing is the market is really starting to mature into appropriate use cases for different reactor technologies Actually, we're seeing some shift in the nomenclature where people aren't saying a micro-modular reactor or a small modular reactor or a large modular reactor, because in reality, there's nothing small about a small modular reactor. actually we're seeing some shift in the nomenclature where people aren't saying a micro-modular reactor or a small modular reactor or a large modular reactor because in reality there's nothing small about a small modular reactor Ontario Power Generation right now is building a GE BWRX-300 small modular reactor. ontario power generation right now is building a ge bwrx-300 small modular reactor An AP1000 is only 10% bigger than a BWRX-300. an ap1000 is only 10% bigger than a bwrx-300 The AP1000 produces 1,200 MW. the ap1000 produces 1,200 mw The BWRX-300 produces 300 MW. the bwrx-300 produces 300 mw The AP1000 is only 10% bigger. the ap1000 is only 10% bigger Actually, the notion of small and large is really quite blurred. actually the notion of small and large is really quite blurred The way we look at it is as folks have gotten closer and closer to making a nuclear decision, they've then fallen into this risk assessment we just walked through as a group. Make sure it's a design that's locked down. Make sure there's a commercial fuel available. Is there a license basis? Is there a regulatory basis? Is there some experience with big project development? As folks get closer and closer to that phase, we're seeing a real shyness towards novelty. Novelty is not something our industry has done very well, and instead, it's being replaced by a mantra of we have to standardize, we have to sequence, and then we have to simplify the turn of each project, and that actually biases towards known technologies. It biases towards the conventional light water reactor technologies. The way we look at it is as folks have gotten closer and closer to making a nuclear decision, they've then fallen into this risk assessment we just walked through as a group. the way we look at it is as folks have gotten closer and closer to making a nuclear decision they've then fallen into this risk assessment we just walked through as a group Make sure it's a design that's locked down. make sure it's a design that's locked down Make sure there's a commercial fuel available. make sure there's a commercial fuel available Is there a license basis? is there a license basis Is there a regulatory basis? is there a regulatory basis Is there some experience with big project development? is there some experience with big project development As folks get closer and closer to that phase, we're seeing a real shyness towards novelty. as folks get closer and closer to that phase we're seeing a real shyness towards novelty Novelty is not something our industry has done very well, and instead, it's being replaced by a mantra of we have to standardize, we have to sequence, and then we have to simplify the turn of each project, and that actually biases towards known technologies. novelty is not something our industry has done very well and instead it's being replaced by a mantra of we have to standardize we have to sequence and then we have to simplify the turn of each project and that actually biases towards known technologies It biases towards the conventional light water reactor technologies. it biases towards the conventional light water reactor technologies In addition, we're seeing just the demand for power is actually outstripping some of those smaller platforms. You look at the size of some of the AI installations. Are you going to put 1,000 microreactors around an AI firm, or are you going to host four AP1000s, for example? The scale is moving away from it. At the same time, people being asked to make a risk-based decision are going back to what's known and what's available. I don't think that it crowds out the SMRs and the advanced nuclear reactors. I just think what it says is their place is probably to follow the establishment of a nuclear new build that's taking advantage of what we know today and what we already do very well today. In addition, we're seeing just the demand for power is actually outstripping some of those smaller platforms. in addition we're seeing just the demand for power is actually outstripping some of those smaller platforms You look at the size of some of the AI installations. you look at the size of some of the ai installations Are you going to put 1,000 microreactors around an AI firm, or are you going to host four AP1000s, for example? are you going to put 1,000 microreactors around an ai firm or are you going to host four ap1000s for example The scale is moving away from it. the scale is moving away from it At the same time, people being asked to make a risk-based decision are going back to what's known and what's available. at the same time people being asked to make a risk-based decision are going back to what's known and what's available I don't think that it crowds out the SMRs and the advanced nuclear reactors. i don't think that it crowds out the smrs and the advanced nuclear reactors I just think what it says is their place is probably to follow the establishment of a nuclear new build that's taking advantage of what we know today and what we already do very well today. i just think what it says is their place is probably to follow the establishment of a nuclear new build that's taking advantage of what we know today and what we already do very well today As I look at it, I often say SMRs just kind of played this amazing Trojan horse role. They got nuclear back into conversations where people didn't want to talk about big reactors. Once nuclear was on the table, the reasons for going larger and larger 40 and 50 years ago are still here today. The conversation's increasingly going back up to big. Couple use cases. Microreactors are still very attractive against the diesel price. For remote industrial operations, remote communities, the idea of a transportable, movable reactor that's competing with the diesel price is still an attractive concept, and we have an eVinci reactor, a microreactor, that we've slow walked a little bit, but there's still a use case. 300 MW reactors still have a use case around deep decarbonization. As I look at it, I often say SMRs just kind of played this amazing Trojan horse role. as i look at it i often say smrs just kind of played this amazing trojan horse role They got nuclear back into conversations where people didn't want to talk about big reactors. they got nuclear back into conversations where people didn't want to talk about big reactors Once nuclear was on the table, the reasons for going larger and larger 40 and 50 years ago are still here today. once nuclear was on the table the reasons for going larger and larger 40 and 50 years ago are still here today The conversation's increasingly going back up to big. the conversation's increasingly going back up to big Couple use cases. couple use cases Microreactors are still very attractive against the diesel price. microreactors are still very attractive against the diesel price For remote industrial operations, remote communities, the idea of a transportable, movable reactor that's competing with the diesel price is still an attractive concept, and we have an eVinci reactor, a microreactor, that we've slow walked a little bit, but there's still a use case. 300 MW reactors still have a use case around deep decarbonization. for remote industrial operations remote communities the idea of a transportable movable reactor that's competing with the diesel price is still an attractive concept and we have an evinci reactor a microreactor that we've slow walked a little bit but there's still a use case 300 mw reactors still have a use case around deep decarbonization There are utilities around the planet that are looking to take down thermal generation and put up clean generation, but tap into all the existing switch gear and transmission and distribution. 1,200 MW doesn't fit on a site where there was 300 MW of coal-fired power, for example, but a 300-MW reactor fits very nicely. The use cases are maturing, and I think that's probably what's going to drive the decisions around the type of technology people deploy. There are utilities around the planet that are looking to take down thermal generation and put up clean generation, but tap into all the existing switch gear and transmission and distribution. 1,200 MW doesn't fit on a site where there was 300 MW of coal-fired power, for example, but a 300-MW reactor fits very nicely. there are utilities around the planet that are looking to take down thermal generation and put up clean generation but tap into all the existing switch gear and transmission and distribution 1,200 mw doesn't fit on a site where there was 300 mw of coal-fired power for example but a 300-mw reactor fits very nicely The use cases are maturing, and I think that's probably what's going to drive the decisions around the type of technology people deploy. the use cases are maturing and i think that's probably what's going to drive the decisions around the type of technology people deploy

Speaker 1: It's funny because the unit of currency for a data center is 1 GW. It's funny because the unit of currency for a data center is 1 GW . it's funny because the unit of currency for a data center is 1 gw If somebody announces, oh, we're building 1 GW data center, you're like, pretty cool. If somebody announces they're building a 300 MW data center, you're like, it's kind of small. It's almost a bit of the strategy that, say, Tesla did, where you bring the shiniest, reddest, coolest model to market first, deploy that, learn from that, and then you kind of move down market, right? Whereas I think a lot of people might have said it's the small little SMRs that come quickly and then the big dinosaurs. Maybe you start with big and then get smart enough on big that you learn how to do small. We'll see. Is there a winner-take-all? I could see a world where six to 12 companies are badly building SMRs, and that feels like a disaster. If somebody announces, oh, we're building 1 GW data center, you're like, pretty cool. if somebody announces oh we're building 1 gw data center you're like pretty cool If somebody announces they're building a 300 MW data center, you're like, it's kind of small. if somebody announces they're building a 300 mw data center you're like it's kind of small It's almost a bit of the strategy that, say, Tesla did, where you bring the shiniest, reddest, coolest model to market first, deploy that, learn from that, and then you kind of move down market, right? it's almost a bit of the strategy that say tesla did where you bring the shiniest reddest coolest model to market first deploy that learn from that and then you kind of move down market right Whereas I think a lot of people might have said it's the small little SMRs that come quickly and then the big dinosaurs. whereas i think a lot of people might have said it's the small little smrs that come quickly and then the big dinosaurs Maybe you start with big and then get smart enough on big that you learn how to do small. maybe you start with big and then get smart enough on big that you learn how to do small We'll see. we'll see Is there a winner-take-all? is there a winner-take-all I could see a world where six to 12 companies are badly building SMRs, and that feels like a disaster. i could see a world where six to 12 companies are badly building smrs and that feels like a disaster Does the world have to pick one or two designs and decide to get to Nth of a kind on those? Does the world have to pick one or two designs and decide to get to Nth of a kind on those? does the world have to pick one or two designs and decide to get to nth of a kind on those

Speaker 2: I think it's probably fair to assume there's going to be very significant consolidation. In our industry, if you go back to 70 years ago when Admiral Rickover made the decision to take nuclear power and convert it to civilian use, he had a series of criteria and principles that he was using to make that decision. At the time, there were molten salt reactors, there were high-temperature gas reactors, there were pressurized heavy water reactors available to him, and he chose light water reactors with enriched fuel up to 5% for a set of reasons that still hold today. I think it's probably fair to assume there's going to be very significant consolidation. i think it's probably fair to assume there's going to be very significant consolidation In our industry, if you go back to 70 years ago when Admiral Rickover made the decision to take nuclear power and convert it to civilian use, he had a series of criteria and principles that he was using to make that decision. in our industry if you go back to 70 years ago when admiral rickover made the decision to take nuclear power and convert it to civilian use he had a series of criteria and principles that he was using to make that decision At the time, there were molten salt reactors, there were high-temperature gas reactors, there were pressurized heavy water reactors available to him, and he chose light water reactors with enriched fuel up to 5% for a set of reasons that still hold today. at the time there were molten salt reactors there were high-temperature gas reactors there were pressurized heavy water reactors available to him and he chose light water reactors with enriched fuel up to 5% for a set of reasons that still hold today

Speaker 1: You mentioned consolidation. We have a related question. What is Cameco's role in consolidating that market? You mentioned consolidation. you mentioned consolidation We have a related question. we have a related question What is Cameco's role in consolidating that market? what is cameco's role in consolidating that market

Speaker 2: If we're talking downstream and the reactor market, we would work through Westinghouse with our partner Brookfield. We are just absolutely focused right now on the gigawatt scale market where we have the leading technology, the AP1000. It's deployment-ready. There is not another technology that would compete with the AP1000 that we're interested in pursuing. We are in a partnership with a Gen II, Gen II plus technology that the Koreans have, the APR1400, like the units built in Barakah in the UAE. That is a partnership that they can only deliver those reactors under license with Westinghouse. That's a pretty good industrial arrangement for both us and for the Koreans, and we're happy with that position. When we look at SMRs, we have an AP300. We think it's a really elegant design. It's basically instead of being a two-loop AP1000, it's a one-loop AP300. If we're talking downstream and the reactor market, we would work through Westinghouse with our partner Brookfield. if we're talking downstream and the reactor market we would work through westinghouse with our partner brookfield We are just absolutely focused right now on the gigawatt scale market where we have the leading technology, the AP1000. we are just absolutely focused right now on the gigawatt scale market where we have the leading technology the ap1000 It's deployment-ready. it's deployment-ready There is not another technology that would compete with the AP1000 that we're interested in pursuing. there is not another technology that would compete with the ap1000 that we're interested in pursuing We are in a partnership with a Gen II, Gen II plus technology that the Koreans have, the APR1400, like the units built in Barakah in the UAE. we are in a partnership with a gen ii gen ii plus technology that the koreans have the apr1400 like the units built in barakah in the uae That is a partnership that they can only deliver those reactors under license with Westinghouse. that is a partnership that they can only deliver those reactors under license with westinghouse That's a pretty good industrial arrangement for both us and for the Koreans, and we're happy with that position. that's a pretty good industrial arrangement for both us and for the koreans and we're happy with that position When we look at SMRs, we have an AP300. when we look at smrs we have an ap300 We think it's a really elegant design. we think it's a really elegant design It's basically instead of being a two-loop AP1000, it's a one-loop AP300. it's basically instead of being a two-loop ap1000 it's a one-loop ap300 Instrumentation and control, fuel reactor pressure vessel, size of the reactor coolant pumps, identical to the AP1000, just has basically a smaller turbine. We think that's the right way to go for a smaller reactor. I mentioned eVinci already. We're waiting for that to be pulled into the market rather than try to push it. Our focus is really on AP1000s right now. Instrumentation and control, fuel reactor pressure vessel, size of the reactor coolant pumps, identical to the AP1000, just has basically a smaller turbine. instrumentation and control fuel reactor pressure vessel size of the reactor coolant pumps identical to the ap1000 just has basically a smaller turbine We think that's the right way to go for a smaller reactor. we think that's the right way to go for a smaller reactor I mentioned eVinci already. i mentioned evinci already We're waiting for that to be pulled into the market rather than try to push it. we're waiting for that to be pulled into the market rather than try to push it Our focus is really on AP1000s right now. our focus is really on ap1000s right now

Speaker 1: That's sort of the nuclear, the downstream side. You're one or two and maybe three in almost everything in the nuclear supply chain except enrichment. Any desire to get bigger in that one or two spot? Kind of answer that, and then we'll talk about that enrichment opportunity. That's sort of the nuclear, the downstream side. that's sort of the nuclear the downstream side You're one or two and maybe three in almost everything in the nuclear supply chain except enrichment. you're one or two and maybe three in almost everything in the nuclear supply chain except enrichment Any desire to get bigger in that one or two spot? any desire to get bigger in that one or two spot Kind of answer that, and then we'll talk about that enrichment opportunity. kind of answer that and then we'll talk about that enrichment opportunity

Speaker 2: Just to level set on enrichment, I mentioned earlier pressurized heavy water reactors like the CANDU reactors versus basically everything else. Pressurized heavy water reactors, about 8% of the global fleet don't require enrichment, and we're fully integrated in that. We fabricate fuel. That leaves 92% of the global market that's using some form of enriched fuel. Enrichment is part of the services that can be offered to our customers that we've never commercially been part of, but we've always said we would love to be part of enrichment. Enrichment today, if you exclude Russia and you exclude China, is in the hands of basically two state-owned enterprises, the French state-owned enterprise Orano, and the multi-state enterprise Urenco, the British government, the Dutch government, and two German utilities. They basically have the Western enrichment market. Just to level set on enrichment, I mentioned earlier pressurized heavy water reactors like the CANDU reactors versus basically everything else. just to level set on enrichment i mentioned earlier pressurized heavy water reactors like the candu reactors versus basically everything else Pressurized heavy water reactors, about 8% of the global fleet don't require enrichment, and we're fully integrated in that. pressurized heavy water reactors about 8% of the global fleet don't require enrichment and we're fully integrated in that We fabricate fuel. we fabricate fuel That leaves 92% of the global market that's using some form of enriched fuel. that leaves 92% of the global market that's using some form of enriched fuel Enrichment is part of the services that can be offered to our customers that we've never commercially been part of, but we've always said we would love to be part of enrichment. enrichment is part of the services that can be offered to our customers that we've never commercially been part of but we've always said we would love to be part of enrichment Enrichment today, if you exclude Russia and you exclude China, is in the hands of basically two state-owned enterprises, the French state-owned enterprise Orano, and the multi-state enterprise Urenco, the British government, the Dutch government, and two German utilities. enrichment today if you exclude russia and you exclude china is in the hands of basically two state-owned enterprises the french state-owned enterprise orano and the multi-state enterprise urenco the british government the dutch government and two german utilities They basically have the Western enrichment market. they basically have the western enrichment market There's a small U.S. opportunity in Centrus producing some levels of enrichment, but mostly a broker for other people's enrichment as opposed to producing their own. Enrichment is not a crowded field. It is a field where utilities are very interested in not only supplier diversification but also technology diversification. What we have decided to do after years of trying to buy market share and discovering that our ability to be part of the incumbent enrichers would always require a price that would eat into the returns that our owners deserve for that kind of investment, we decided to pivot and explore our way into enrichment. In 2008, we started working with a partner out of Australia, and GE at the time as well, on a third-generation enrichment technology called laser enrichment. This is a very exciting technology diversification in the enrichment space. There's a small U.S. opportunity in Centrus producing some levels of enrichment, but mostly a broker for other people's enrichment as opposed to producing their own. there's a small u.s opportunity in centrus producing some levels of enrichment but mostly a broker for other people's enrichment as opposed to producing their own Enrichment is not a crowded field. enrichment is not a crowded field It is a field where utilities are very interested in not only supplier diversification but also technology diversification. it is a field where utilities are very interested in not only supplier diversification but also technology diversification What we have decided to do after years of trying to buy market share and discovering that our ability to be part of the incumbent enrichers would always require a price that would eat into the returns that our owners deserve for that kind of investment, we decided to pivot and explore our way into enrichment. what we have decided to do after years of trying to buy market share and discovering that our ability to be part of the incumbent enrichers would always require a price that would eat into the returns that our owners deserve for that kind of investment we decided to pivot and explore our way into enrichment In 2008, we started working with a partner out of Australia, and GE at the time as well, on a third-generation enrichment technology called laser enrichment. in 2008 we started working with a partner out of australia and ge at the time as well on a third-generation enrichment technology called laser enrichment This is a very exciting technology diversification in the enrichment space. this is a very exciting technology diversification in the enrichment space It uses the laser light spectrum to separate isotopes and keep them separated as part of the enrichment process. Right now, commercially, our focus is on proving up that technology but waiting to see how the mainstream commercial enrichment market evolves. We're looking to deploy that technology to re-enrich a liability, which is the U.S. government sits on a very big inventory of depleted UF6. UF6 that's been through enrichment before. It doesn't have natural levels of the U235 isotope. It's got much less. That material can be re-enriched. We can take all those canisters, which are a liability. We can run them through a plant, enrich them back up to natural uranium levels, and then have basically an above-ground, U.S.-origin uranium mine disguised as a conversion plant to sell into the UF6 market and watch how mainstream enrichment evolves. Why am I cautious on mainstream enrichment? It uses the laser light spectrum to separate isotopes and keep them separated as part of the enrichment process. it uses the laser light spectrum to separate isotopes and keep them separated as part of the enrichment process Right now, commercially, our focus is on proving up that technology but waiting to see how the mainstream commercial enrichment market evolves. right now commercially our focus is on proving up that technology but waiting to see how the mainstream commercial enrichment market evolves We're looking to deploy that technology to re-enrich a liability, which is the U.S. government sits on a very big inventory of depleted UF6. we're looking to deploy that technology to re-enrich a liability which is the u.s government sits on a very big inventory of depleted uf6 UF6 that's been through enrichment before. uf6 that's been through enrichment before It doesn't have natural levels of the U235 isotope. it doesn't have natural levels of the u235 isotope It's got much less. it's got much less That material can be re-enriched. that material can be re-enriched We can take all those canisters, which are a liability. we can take all those canisters which are a liability We can run them through a plant, enrich them back up to natural uranium levels, and then have basically an above-ground, U.S.-origin uranium mine disguised as a conversion plant to sell into the UF6 market and watch how mainstream enrichment evolves. we can run them through a plant enrich them back up to natural uranium levels and then have basically an above-ground u.s.-origin uranium mine disguised as a conversion plant to sell into the uf6 market and watch how mainstream enrichment evolves Why am I cautious on mainstream enrichment? why am i cautious on mainstream enrichment Because right now, enrichment is only short in the West because we've decided to exclude Russia and not replace Russia with China. At a global level, if you look at all the enrichment capacity available, the market's not undersupplied, it's actually oversupplied. We want to make sure we know that the Russians are shut out of the Western market for the very long term. If they are, there will be a commercial opportunity. If they're not, if they come back into the Western market, they will oversupply the market like they always did. The Russian model is dual-use facilities. They're military facilities. When not being used for military purposes, they would just provide cheap enrichment service for Western customers who were happy to pay less and less and less for the enrichment every day, and then it develops a massive dependency. Because right now, enrichment is only short in the West because we've decided to exclude Russia and not replace Russia with China. because right now enrichment is only short in the west because we've decided to exclude russia and not replace russia with china At a global level, if you look at all the enrichment capacity available, the market's not undersupplied, it's actually oversupplied. at a global level if you look at all the enrichment capacity available the market's not undersupplied it's actually oversupplied We want to make sure we know that the Russians are shut out of the Western market for the very long term. we want to make sure we know that the russians are shut out of the western market for the very long term If they are, there will be a commercial opportunity. if they are there will be a commercial opportunity If they're not, if they come back into the Western market, they will oversupply the market like they always did. if they're not if they come back into the western market they will oversupply the market like they always did The Russian model is dual-use facilities. the russian model is dual-use facilities They're military facilities. they're military facilities When not being used for military purposes, they would just provide cheap enrichment service for Western customers who were happy to pay less and less and less for the enrichment every day, and then it develops a massive dependency. when not being used for military purposes they would just provide cheap enrichment service for western customers who were happy to pay less and less and less for the enrichment every day and then it develops a massive dependency There is a competitor out there who right now by legislation is shut out of the market, but if in the market, has completely distortive behavior, and we just want to make sure we understand that situation better before deploying capital. That seems like a pretty reasonable position. In the meantime, we'll get into enrichment through re-enrichment, play in the uranium and UF6 market that we think we know better than anybody. There is a competitor out there who right now by legislation is shut out of the market, but if in the market, has completely distortive behavior, and we just want to make sure we understand that situation better before deploying capital. there is a competitor out there who right now by legislation is shut out of the market but if in the market has completely distortive behavior and we just want to make sure we understand that situation better before deploying capital That seems like a pretty reasonable position. that seems like a pretty reasonable position In the meantime, we'll get into enrichment through re-enrichment, play in the uranium and UF6 market that we think we know better than anybody. in the meantime we'll get into enrichment through re-enrichment play in the uranium and uf6 market that we think we know better than anybody

Speaker 1: That leaves the other parts of the supply chain. The mining, milling, processing interests there. Again, you're one or two in most of those. Desires to get bigger? That leaves the other parts of the supply chain. that leaves the other parts of the supply chain The mining, milling, processing interests there. the mining milling processing interests there Again, you're one or two in most of those. again you're one or two in most of those Desires to get bigger? desires to get bigger

Speaker 2: Yeah, it all starts with uranium. As we work all the way back up to the top of the fuel cycle, the product for which there's no substitute is uranium. Now, it's not as sexy as enrichment and other parts of the fuel cycle, but it is critically important. It's also unique because it's the one part of the fuel cycle that you cannot build within the timeframe of building new reactors. If the world started building fleet scale AP1000s, we can build enrichment plants, fabrication plants, conversion plants within the time it takes to build those AP1000s. We cannot explore for, discover, prove up, construct, and commission new mines within that window. We think it's the part of the fuel cycle that the market has fallen a little bit asleep on. We're very disciplined. Yeah, it all starts with uranium. yeah it all starts with uranium As we work all the way back up to the top of the fuel cycle, the product for which there's no substitute is uranium. as we work all the way back up to the top of the fuel cycle the product for which there's no substitute is uranium Now, it's not as sexy as enrichment and other parts of the fuel cycle, but it is critically important. now it's not as sexy as enrichment and other parts of the fuel cycle but it is critically important It's also unique because it's the one part of the fuel cycle that you cannot build within the timeframe of building new reactors. it's also unique because it's the one part of the fuel cycle that you cannot build within the timeframe of building new reactors If the world started building fleet scale AP1000s, we can build enrichment plants, fabrication plants, conversion plants within the time it takes to build those AP1000s. if the world started building fleet scale ap1000s we can build enrichment plants fabrication plants conversion plants within the time it takes to build those ap1000s We cannot explore for, discover, prove up, construct, and commission new mines within that window. we cannot explore for discover prove up construct and commission new mines within that window We think it's the part of the fuel cycle that the market has fallen a little bit asleep on. we think it's the part of the fuel cycle that the market has fallen a little bit asleep on We're very disciplined. we're very disciplined We don't even have our own production running at full capacity, waiting for that realization to come. We fully intend to remain, I was going to say dominant, but Cory's here. He's going to be really unhappy if I say dominant. We plan to remain dominant in uranium production. That is our goal, but right now the market is so focused on other parts, they haven't paid enough attention to the uranium, so they're not sending the signal for us to be investing. We're sitting here as Cameco with Tier 1 assets. We have 70% of our production running. 30% of our production is strategically either running at less capacity or is in care and maintenance. We have brownfield leverage as well as greenfield leverage that we think nobody else has. You have to have the demand in the market, and it's just not there yet. We don't even have our own production running at full capacity, waiting for that realization to come. we don't even have our own production running at full capacity waiting for that realization to come We fully intend to remain, I was going to say dominant, but Cory's here. we fully intend to remain i was going to say dominant but cory's here He's going to be really unhappy if I say dominant. he's going to be really unhappy if i say dominant We plan to remain dominant in uranium production. we plan to remain dominant in uranium production That is our goal, but right now the market is so focused on other parts, they haven't paid enough attention to the uranium, so they're not sending the signal for us to be investing. that is our goal but right now the market is so focused on other parts they haven't paid enough attention to the uranium so they're not sending the signal for us to be investing We're sitting here as Cameco with Tier 1 assets. we're sitting here as cameco with tier 1 assets We have 70% of our production running. 30% of our production is strategically either running at less capacity or is in care and maintenance. we have 70% of our production running 30% of our production is strategically either running at less capacity or is in care and maintenance We have brownfield leverage as well as greenfield leverage that we think nobody else has. we have brownfield leverage as well as greenfield leverage that we think nobody else has You have to have the demand in the market, and it's just not there yet. you have to have the demand in the market and it's just not there yet Uranium isn't something we have forgotten about, but we can't force the utilities to buy uranium, but we can wait when they show up, and to the extent that they believe it's scarce, they're willing to pay more for it, and those pounds will be worth more tomorrow than they are today. Uranium isn't something we have forgotten about, but we can't force the utilities to buy uranium, but we can wait when they show up, and to the extent that they believe it's scarce, they're willing to pay more for it, and those pounds will be worth more tomorrow than they are today. uranium isn't something we have forgotten about but we can't force the utilities to buy uranium but we can wait when they show up and to the extent that they believe it's scarce they're willing to pay more for it and those pounds will be worth more tomorrow than they are today

Speaker 1: That brings me to the whole nature of uranium price. If I think about oil, if I think about natural gas, most oil producers barely hedge. They might hedge half of their volumes this year and a quarter next. Most takers of oil, airlines have sort of stopped hedging. Maybe they hedge one, two, three years out. Same with natural gas. Uranium is that one commodity where hedging strategies from the purchasers, from the utilities, are significant, and therefore it really does kind of bifurcate the market between a spot market and a long-term contract market. Now, can you give us a 101 on uranium price? What should people look at on their screen, and how should they think about price discovery and where that price is going? That brings me to the whole nature of uranium price. that brings me to the whole nature of uranium price If I think about oil, if I think about natural gas, most oil producers barely hedge. if i think about oil if i think about natural gas most oil producers barely hedge They might hedge half of their volumes this year and a quarter next. they might hedge half of their volumes this year and a quarter next Most takers of oil, airlines have sort of stopped hedging. most takers of oil airlines have sort of stopped hedging Maybe they hedge one, two, three years out. maybe they hedge one two three years out Same with natural gas. same with natural gas Uranium is that one commodity where hedging strategies from the purchasers, from the utilities, are significant, and therefore it really does kind of bifurcate the market between a spot market and a long-term contract market. uranium is that one commodity where hedging strategies from the purchasers from the utilities are significant and therefore it really does kind of bifurcate the market between a spot market and a long-term contract market Now, can you give us a 101 on uranium price? now can you give us a 101 on uranium price What should people look at on their screen, and how should they think about price discovery and where that price is going? what should people look at on their screen and how should they think about price discovery and where that price is going

Speaker 2: That is a terrific question. Let me unpack it a little bit. I would start first with the great news, which is the cheat code for knowing where the uranium price is going is two things. One is the stock of demand that's out there. In our investor presentation on slide 19, I don't happen to have it with me, but we show this thing called the uncovered requirements wedge. What it is we basically track, as an industry, the amount of uranium that is required to run the existing nuclear fleet, plus plants that are restarting, plus plants that are under construction, but really no more than that, it's a pretty conservative view, that has not yet been bought by utilities. That wedge, that stock of demand between now and 2045 is bigger than it has ever been. That is a terrific question. that is a terrific question Let me unpack it a little bit. let me unpack it a little bit I would start first with the great news, which is the cheat code for knowing where the uranium price is going is two things. i would start first with the great news which is the cheat code for knowing where the uranium price is going is two things One is the stock of demand that's out there. one is the stock of demand that's out there In our investor presentation on slide 19, I don't happen to have it with me, but we show this thing called the uncovered requirements wedge. in our investor presentation on slide 19 i don't happen to have it with me but we show this thing called the uncovered requirements wedge What it is we basically track, as an industry, the amount of uranium that is required to run the existing nuclear fleet, plus plants that are restarting, plus plants that are under construction, but really no more than that, it's a pretty conservative view, that has not yet been bought by utilities. what it is we basically track as an industry the amount of uranium that is required to run the existing nuclear fleet plus plants that are restarting plus plants that are under construction but really no more than that it's a pretty conservative view that has not yet been bought by utilities That wedge, that stock of demand between now and 2045 is bigger than it has ever been. that wedge that stock of demand between now and 2045 is bigger than it has ever been There has been no point in the commercial uranium industry where this much forward demand has yet to come into the market. That's pretty exciting. Stock of demand looks great for an incumbent producer. The second cheat code for demand is, what's the rate at which utilities have been coming into the market? What's the flow of demand? This is also an interesting data point. Utilities have been borrowing time. Utilities, since 2012, have not bought uranium forward at replacement rate. They've been consuming more uranium off old contracts, taking delivery of old contracts, and coming into the market and buying less uranium. They've been below replacement rate in their contracting, which, by the way, is why the uncovered requirements wedge keeps growing. There has been no point in the commercial uranium industry where this much forward demand has yet to come into the market. there has been no point in the commercial uranium industry where this much forward demand has yet to come into the market That's pretty exciting. that's pretty exciting Stock of demand looks great for an incumbent producer. stock of demand looks great for an incumbent producer The second cheat code for demand is, what's the rate at which utilities have been coming into the market? the second cheat code for demand is what's the rate at which utilities have been coming into the market What's the flow of demand? what's the flow of demand This is also an interesting data point. this is also an interesting data point Utilities have been borrowing time. utilities have been borrowing time Utilities, since 2012, have not bought uranium forward at replacement rate. utilities since 2012 have not bought uranium forward at replacement rate They've been consuming more uranium off old contracts, taking delivery of old contracts, and coming into the market and buying less uranium. they've been consuming more uranium off old contracts taking delivery of old contracts and coming into the market and buying less uranium They've been below replacement rate in their contracting, which, by the way, is why the uncovered requirements wedge keeps growing. they've been below replacement rate in their contracting which by the way is why the uncovered requirements wedge keeps growing What this means is, not only is the uncovered requirements growing, the industry has destocked significantly because the only way to live below replacement rate since 2012 is to be chewing through inventories. It's the only way to do it. We've had a massive destocking in our industry, and that's reflected in the fall of the secondary supplies to our market because those inventories have been chewed through. That is absolutely great. It means that a uranium producer has a lot of demand coming for its supply, but you have to be strategic and patient. There is a great investment case for uranium. What you always have to remember as an investor in the uranium space is it's always forward-looking. Uranium is a really unique commodity because it has zero in-year fundamental demand. What this means is, not only is the uncovered requirements growing, the industry has destocked significantly because the only way to live below replacement rate since 2012 is to be chewing through inventories. what this means is not only is the uncovered requirements growing the industry has destocked significantly because the only way to live below replacement rate since 2012 is to be chewing through inventories It's the only way to do it. it's the only way to do it We've had a massive destocking in our industry, and that's reflected in the fall of the secondary supplies to our market because those inventories have been chewed through. we've had a massive destocking in our industry and that's reflected in the fall of the secondary supplies to our market because those inventories have been chewed through That is absolutely great. that is absolutely great It means that a uranium producer has a lot of demand coming for its supply, but you have to be strategic and patient. it means that a uranium producer has a lot of demand coming for its supply but you have to be strategic and patient There is a great investment case for uranium. there is a great investment case for uranium What you always have to remember as an investor in the uranium space is it's always forward-looking. what you always have to remember as an investor in the uranium space is it's always forward-looking Uranium is a really unique commodity because it has zero in-year fundamental demand. uranium is a really unique commodity because it has zero in-year fundamental demand There is not a reactor on the planet loading a fuel bundle in the next 12 to 18 months that hasn't already procured the uranium. That doesn't mean utilities don't occasionally buy in the spot market, but when they do, they're simply doing things like, well, building back up their inventory. Maybe they need a bit more material to put in an inventory, or maybe they have a fuel outage coming in a couple of years and want to buy a bit more material to put in process for a fuel outage or a reload. The key to thinking about that is that utility demand on the front end, it's very small and it's highly discretionary. They don't have to buy today. It's not their requirements that they're buying for. There is not a reactor on the planet loading a fuel bundle in the next 12 to 18 months that hasn't already procured the uranium. there is not a reactor on the planet loading a fuel bundle in the next 12 to 18 months that hasn't already procured the uranium That doesn't mean utilities don't occasionally buy in the spot market, but when they do, they're simply doing things like, well, building back up their inventory. that doesn't mean utilities don't occasionally buy in the spot market but when they do they're simply doing things like, well building back up their inventory Maybe they need a bit more material to put in an inventory, or maybe they have a fuel outage coming in a couple of years and want to buy a bit more material to put in process for a fuel outage or a reload. maybe they need a bit more material to put in an inventory or maybe they have a fuel outage coming in a couple of years and want to buy a bit more material to put in process for a fuel outage or a reload The key to thinking about that is that utility demand on the front end, it's very small and it's highly discretionary. the key to thinking about that is that utility demand on the front end it's very small and it's highly discretionary They don't have to buy today. they don't have to buy today It's not their requirements that they're buying for. it's not their requirements that they're buying for In our industry, people spend a lot of time looking at the spot market, but it is not a fundamental market. It has no fundamental in-year demand. We see this really weird result where the uncovered requirements is bigger than it's ever been. We're not even at replacement rate contracting yet, and we're already at a $93 long-term price of uranium. Yet somebody shows up and sells 100,000 pounds, 200,000 pounds into the spot market, and it drops by $4. Investors go, well, what's going on here? Are we done? Is the run in the uranium price over? No, it's because the spot market has no fundamental demand. In our industry, people spend a lot of time looking at the spot market, but it is not a fundamental market. in our industry people spend a lot of time looking at the spot market but it is not a fundamental market It has no fundamental in-year demand. it has no fundamental in-year demand We see this really weird result where the uncovered requirements is bigger than it's ever been. we see this really weird result where the uncovered requirements is bigger than it's ever been We're not even at replacement rate contracting yet, and we're already at a $93 long-term price of uranium. we're not even at replacement rate contracting yet and we're already at a $93 long-term price of uranium Yet somebody shows up and sells 100,000 pounds, 200,000 pounds into the spot market, and it drops by $4. yet somebody shows up and sells 100,000 pounds 200,000 pounds into the spot market and it drops by $4 Investors go, well, what's going on here? investors go well what's going on here Are we done? are we done Is the run in the uranium price over? is the run in the uranium price over No, it's because the spot market has no fundamental demand. no it's because the spot market has no fundamental demand Somebody showing up with material that has no home and tries to jam it through a spot market basically creates the incentive where the intermediaries or the producers that might occasionally like to buy, or the utilities that will buy, just step back. They wait to find how cheap is that person willing to sell it for. Then they pick it up once we find the bottom of the market. There's a volatility to the spot market that is almost completely disconnected from the fundamentals of the term market. I'm not saying ignore the spot price, but don't think of the spot price as the indicator of where uranium is going. Spend more time thinking about that long-term price. Somebody showing up with material that has no home and tries to jam it through a spot market basically creates the incentive where the intermediaries or the producers that might occasionally like to buy, or the utilities that will buy, just step back. somebody showing up with material that has no home and tries to jam it through a spot market basically creates the incentive where the intermediaries or the producers that might occasionally like to buy or the utilities that will buy just step back They wait to find how cheap is that person willing to sell it for. they wait to find how cheap is that person willing to sell it for Then they pick it up once we find the bottom of the market. then they pick it up once we find the bottom of the market There's a volatility to the spot market that is almost completely disconnected from the fundamentals of the term market. there's a volatility to the spot market that is almost completely disconnected from the fundamentals of the term market I'm not saying ignore the spot price, but don't think of the spot price as the indicator of where uranium is going. i'm not saying ignore the spot price but don't think of the spot price as the indicator of where uranium is going Spend more time thinking about that long-term price. spend more time thinking about that long-term price That long-term price has been on a steady up and to the right march. It's now at $93 U.S. per pound U.S. We have never seen uranium prices this high on the front end of a contracting cycle. We have seen uranium prices this high when we have been through above replacement rate contracting cycle. We are not even at replacement rate. We haven't been in a replacement cycle since 2012. We are already at $93 uranium price. That feels pretty good for an incumbent producer. I don't yet know when more demand is coming to the market. So we are in supply discipline waiting for it. That long-term price has been on a steady up and to the right march. that long-term price has been on a steady up and to the right march It's now at $93 U.S. per pound U.S. We have never seen uranium prices this high on the front end of a contracting cycle. We have seen uranium prices this high when we have been through above replacement rate contracting cycle. We are not even at replacement rate. We haven't been in a replacement cycle since 2012. We are already at $93 uranium price. That feels pretty good for an incumbent producer. I don't yet know when more demand is coming to the market. So we are in supply discipline waiting for it. it's now at $93 u.s per pound u.s. we have never seen uranium prices this high on the front end of a contracting cycle. we have seen uranium prices this high when we have been through above replacement rate contracting cycle. we are not even at replacement rate. we haven't been in a replacement cycle since 2012. we are already at $93 uranium price. that feels pretty good for an incumbent producer. i don't yet know when more demand is coming to the market. so we are in supply discipline waiting for it

Speaker 1: I think one of the remarkable things about. I've built supply-demand models across various dozens of commodities. The demand side for uranium nuclear is amazing because there's 440 reactors. There's a picture of every one of them. You know exactly how much they're consuming. Into that market, we're building 70-ish. In that market, there is the potential to restart perhaps two dozen and maybe more reactors. Specifically, if you think in a post-Fukushima world where Japan made the choice to take roughly 30+ reactors offline, roughly two dozen of those can come back. There are reactors in Europe that can come back. There's certainly reactors in the U.S. that come back. The lead time for those reactors to turn on, talk to that. If I make a decision, if Japan makes a decision today and looks and says, we cannot obtain LNG for power. I think one of the remarkable things about. i think one of the remarkable things about I've built supply-demand models across various dozens of commodities. i've built supply-demand models across various dozens of commodities The demand side for uranium nuclear is amazing because there's 440 reactors. the demand side for uranium nuclear is amazing because there's 440 reactors There's a picture of every one of them. there's a picture of every one of them You know exactly how much they're consuming. you know exactly how much they're consuming Into that market, we're building 70-ish. into that market we're building 70-ish In that market, there is the potential to restart perhaps two dozen and maybe more reactors. in that market there is the potential to restart perhaps two dozen and maybe more reactors Specifically, if you think in a post-Fukushima world where Japan made the choice to take roughly 30+ reactors offline, roughly two dozen of those can come back. specifically if you think in a post-fukushima world where japan made the choice to take roughly 30+ reactors offline roughly two dozen of those can come back There are reactors in Europe that can come back. there are reactors in europe that can come back There's certainly reactors in the U.S. that come back. there's certainly reactors in the u.s that come back The lead time for those reactors to turn on, talk to that. the lead time for those reactors to turn on talk to that If I make a decision, if Japan makes a decision today and looks and says, we cannot obtain LNG for power. if i make a decision if japan makes a decision today and looks and says we cannot obtain lng for power We don't want to pay the price of LNG for power. We don't want to subsidize utilities. We want to restart nuclear." What does that set of dominoes look like, and when does that show up in price? We don't want to pay the price of LNG for power. we don't want to pay the price of lng for power We don't want to subsidize utilities. we don't want to subsidize utilities We want to restart nuclear." What does that set of dominoes look like, and when does that show up in price? we want to restart nuclear." what does that set of dominoes look like and when does that show up in price

Speaker 2: Generally, an announcement to restart a reactor that is shut down, the demand for the fuel begins right away. As part of the shutdown process, that utility probably worked through its strategic inventory. Now it actually has a restocking demand. When California announced that the Diablo Canyon units wouldn't shut down and they would extend, the poor fuel buyer for Diablo Canyon who just had sold off the last of their inventory at a cheap price, then had to go buy back uranium at a much more expensive price. Usually, that demand begins right away because of the lead times between procuring the uranium and then having it as a bespoke fuel bundle. In terms of the time it takes to turn on reactors, it just completely varies. It varies on the state at which that reactor is sitting. I'll just give you an example. Generally, an announcement to restart a reactor that is shut down, the demand for the fuel begins right away. generally an announcement to restart a reactor that is shut down the demand for the fuel begins right away As part of the shutdown process, that utility probably worked through its strategic inventory. as part of the shutdown process that utility probably worked through its strategic inventory Now it actually has a restocking demand. now it actually has a restocking demand When California announced that the Diablo Canyon units wouldn't shut down and they would extend, the poor fuel buyer for Diablo Canyon who just had sold off the last of their inventory at a cheap price, then had to go buy back uranium at a much more expensive price. when california announced that the diablo canyon units wouldn't shut down and they would extend the poor fuel buyer for diablo canyon who just had sold off the last of their inventory at a cheap price then had to go buy back uranium at a much more expensive price Usually, that demand begins right away because of the lead times between procuring the uranium and then having it as a bespoke fuel bundle. usually that demand begins right away because of the lead times between procuring the uranium and then having it as a bespoke fuel bundle In terms of the time it takes to turn on reactors, it just completely varies. in terms of the time it takes to turn on reactors it just completely varies It varies on the state at which that reactor is sitting. it varies on the state at which that reactor is sitting I'll just give you an example. i'll just give you an example Germany often makes a big deal about the fact that they turned off all their reactors as they said they were going to do. Actually, six of those reactors are sitting in the warm standby condition that they would be sitting in during a fuel outage. Why? Because those are the power sources that will come back in a pinch. If that tap gets turned off completely, those reactors are coming back. That's different, for example, than Three Mile Island that's restarting with Constellation. Germany often makes a big deal about the fact that they turned off all their reactors as they said they were going to do. germany often makes a big deal about the fact that they turned off all their reactors as they said they were going to do Actually, six of those reactors are sitting in the warm standby condition that they would be sitting in during a fuel outage. actually six of those reactors are sitting in the warm standby condition that they would be sitting in during a fuel outage Why? why Because those are the power sources that will come back in a pinch. because those are the power sources that will come back in a pinch If that tap gets turned off completely, those reactors are coming back. if that tap gets turned off completely those reactors are coming back That's different, for example, than Three Mile Island that's restarting with Constellation. that's different for example than three mile island that's restarting with constellation That had been completely defueled. It had been completely cooled down. It really depends on where that reactor is sitting, and we have a bunch of reactors in Japan, in Western Europe, that are sitting basically in a warm standby of readiness and could come back relatively quickly. Others are going to need a lot more capital or a lot more work, but compared to a greenfield nuclear, it's a pretty exciting prospect. That had been completely defueled. that had been completely defueled It had been completely cooled down. it had been completely cooled down It really depends on where that reactor is sitting, and we have a bunch of reactors in Japan, in Western Europe, that are sitting basically in a warm standby of readiness and could come back relatively quickly. it really depends on where that reactor is sitting and we have a bunch of reactors in japan in western europe that are sitting basically in a warm standby of readiness and could come back relatively quickly Others are going to need a lot more capital or a lot more work, but compared to a greenfield nuclear, it's a pretty exciting prospect. others are going to need a lot more capital or a lot more work but compared to a greenfield nuclear it's a pretty exciting prospect

Speaker 1: Talk to financial strategy. Your balance sheet's extremely strong. Net debt versus market cap's extremely low. You're generating free cash flow. Your capital programs are modest and funded. Ultimately, what's the right balance sheet? What's the right use of cash flow, and maybe over what time? How do you think about that? Talk to financial strategy. talk to financial strategy Your balance sheet's extremely strong. your balance sheet's extremely strong Net debt versus market cap's extremely low. net debt versus market cap's extremely low You're generating free cash flow. you're generating free cash flow Your capital programs are modest and funded. your capital programs are modest and funded Ultimately, what's the right balance sheet? ultimately what's the right balance sheet What's the right use of cash flow, and maybe over what time? what's the right use of cash flow and maybe over what time How do you think about that? how do you think about that

Speaker 2: Yeah. I've mentioned a few times that because the uranium part of our business hasn't hit replacement rate contracting yet. We're still in supply discipline. While we're in supply discipline and we only have 70% of our licensed and permitted production up and running, it means that we're still conservative financially. We can't control when utilities bring their demand to the market, and we have to set our financial strategy to be at least as patient as they are, if not slightly more patient than they are. That's what really is driving the conservativism. As we look for opportunities through the fuel cycle, we generally fund our growth out of our forward contracts. Things like growth in the uranium segment is going to come from uranium contracts. Growth in the conversion segment is going to come from conversion contracts. Yeah. yeah I've mentioned a few times that because the uranium part of our business hasn't hit replacement rate contracting yet. i've mentioned a few times that because the uranium part of our business hasn't hit replacement rate contracting yet We're still in supply discipline. we're still in supply discipline While we're in supply discipline and we only have 70% of our licensed and permitted production up and running, it means that we're still conservative financially. while we're in supply discipline and we only have 70% of our licensed and permitted production up and running it means that we're still conservative financially We can't control when utilities bring their demand to the market, and we have to set our financial strategy to be at least as patient as they are, if not slightly more patient than they are. we can't control when utilities bring their demand to the market and we have to set our financial strategy to be at least as patient as they are if not slightly more patient than they are That's what really is driving the conservativism. that's what really is driving the conservativism As we look for opportunities through the fuel cycle, we generally fund our growth out of our forward contracts. as we look for opportunities through the fuel cycle we generally fund our growth out of our forward contracts Things like growth in the uranium segment is going to come from uranium contracts. things like growth in the uranium segment is going to come from uranium contracts Growth in the conversion segment is going to come from conversion contracts. growth in the conversion segment is going to come from conversion contracts Where we're seeing an opportunity to deploy capital is maybe in enrichment. We don't have a contract book for enrichment, that is something we're looking at quite closely and seeing if the right conditions are there. At some point, if AP1000s take off on a fleet scale, Westinghouse is going to have to deploy more capital. I don't mean Cameco putting capital into Westinghouse, but maybe we let them hang on to more of their capital for reinvestment. Where we're seeing an opportunity to deploy capital is maybe in enrichment. where we're seeing an opportunity to deploy capital is maybe in enrichment We don't have a contract book for enrichment, that is something we're looking at quite closely and seeing if the right conditions are there. we don't have a contract book for enrichment that is something we're looking at quite closely and seeing if the right conditions are there At some point, if AP1000s take off on a fleet scale, Westinghouse is going to have to deploy more capital. at some point if ap1000s take off on a fleet scale westinghouse is going to have to deploy more capital I don't mean Cameco putting capital into Westinghouse, but maybe we let them hang on to more of their capital for reinvestment. i don't mean cameco putting capital into westinghouse but maybe we let them hang on to more of their capital for reinvestment

Speaker 1: Take less out. Take less out. take less out

Speaker 2: a smaller distribution. We don't intend to put fresh capital into them. That is, in effect, a capital allocation decision. We used to be in power generation as a company. We were an owner of Bruce Power until 2013. As we see different markets look for funding structures to build, we will assess, is that a good investment for us? It generally isn't. It generally isn't. Our cost of capital can't typically compete with those infrastructure-like funds. It is something we're not afraid of if the right opportunity came along. Ultimately, we're going to be in a return of capital mode. We will find ourselves with a cash generation that exceeds our ability to invest in it over the time frames of nuclear investment. Exactly what that looks like, it's probably going to be a bit of an all of the above strategy. a smaller distribution. a smaller distribution We don't intend to put fresh capital into them. we don't intend to put fresh capital into them That is, in effect, a capital allocation decision. that is in effect a capital allocation decision We used to be in power generation as a company. we used to be in power generation as a company We were an owner of Bruce Power until 2013. we were an owner of bruce power until 2013 As we see different markets look for funding structures to build, we will assess, is that a good investment for us? as we see different markets look for funding structures to build we will assess is that a good investment for us It generally isn't. it generally isn't It generally isn't. it generally isn't Our cost of capital can't typically compete with those infrastructure-like funds. our cost of capital can't typically compete with those infrastructure-like funds It is something we're not afraid of if the right opportunity came along. it is something we're not afraid of if the right opportunity came along Ultimately, we're going to be in a return of capital mode. ultimately we're going to be in a return of capital mode We will find ourselves with a cash generation that exceeds our ability to invest in it over the time frames of nuclear investment. we will find ourselves with a cash generation that exceeds our ability to invest in it over the time frames of nuclear investment Exactly what that looks like, it's probably going to be a bit of an all of the above strategy. exactly what that looks like it's probably going to be a bit of an all of the above strategy

Speaker 1: Maybe in the last minute or so, what's ultimately the value proposition for buying Cameco shares? Maybe in the last minute or so, what's ultimately the value proposition for buying Cameco shares? maybe in the last minute or so what's ultimately the value proposition for buying cameco shares

Speaker 2: We think that probably the best way to think about us is we have assembled a collection of incredibly scarce strategic assets. Assets that are in sovereign, safe jurisdictions, assets with incredible brownfield leverage. I'm talking spanning exploration all the way through to the reactor space. Assets that are in regulatory environments, which means competition isn't going to pop up overnight. It takes a long time for people to replicate what we have. We have unique capabilities and unique technologies. Ultimately, if you look jurisdiction after jurisdiction, a lot of lights are on because of what we do. A lot of factories and jobs are there because of what we do, and we think it's at that strategic core of unique, scarce assets that drives the valuation of Cameco. We think that probably the best way to think about us is we have assembled a collection of incredibly scarce strategic assets. we think that probably the best way to think about us is we have assembled a collection of incredibly scarce strategic assets Assets that are in sovereign, safe jurisdictions, assets with incredible brownfield leverage. assets that are in sovereign safe jurisdictions assets with incredible brownfield leverage I'm talking spanning exploration all the way through to the reactor space. i'm talking spanning exploration all the way through to the reactor space Assets that are in regulatory environments, which means competition isn't going to pop up overnight. assets that are in regulatory environments which means competition isn't going to pop up overnight It takes a long time for people to replicate what we have. it takes a long time for people to replicate what we have We have unique capabilities and unique technologies. we have unique capabilities and unique technologies Ultimately, if you look jurisdiction after jurisdiction, a lot of lights are on because of what we do. ultimately if you look jurisdiction after jurisdiction a lot of lights are on because of what we do A lot of factories and jobs are there because of what we do, and we think it's at that strategic core of unique, scarce assets that drives the valuation of Cameco. a lot of factories and jobs are there because of what we do and we think it's at that strategic core of unique scarce assets that drives the valuation of cameco We think more and more people are starting to realize that fundamental role we play from cradle to grave across the nuclear industry, and we just continue to hunt strategic assets when they're available. We think more and more people are starting to realize that fundamental role we play from cradle to grave across the nuclear industry, and we just continue to hunt strategic assets when they're available. we think more and more people are starting to realize that fundamental role we play from cradle to grave across the nuclear industry and we just continue to hunt strategic assets when they're available

Speaker 1: Fantastic. With that, I thank you, Grant. I thank you in the audience. Thank you very much. Thank you. Fantastic. fantastic With that, I thank you, Grant. with that i thank you grant I thank you in the audience. i thank you in the audience Thank you very much. thank you very much Thank you. thank you