Canada's Cameco Corp. has lessened its demand forecast after Japan's Fukushima disaster, in which the six-reactor complex was damaged in March by an earthquake and a subsequent tsunami.

Despite the setback, Canada's uranium industry, with Japan as a major export market, has seen Cameco Corp. maintain its 2011 sales guidance and only made slight reductions to its long-term demand forecasts.

That, however, assumes the global demand for uranium, especially in the developing world, will overcome the negative publicity generated by the March 11 catastrophe at the Daiichi Fukushima TEPCO complex.

"To look beyond the headlines of Europe and Japan, it's clear the world's fastest-growing economies are not backing away from their plans to have greatly increased nuclear power capacity as part of their energy mix," Cameco Chief Executive Officer Tim Gitzel said in a conference call regarding second-quarter earnings.

Gitzel attempted to put a brave face on Cameco's current situation, stating, that while Germany's decision to phase out nuclear power, as well as the uncertainty of the future of nuclear power in Japan, has had a negative effect on uranium as a nuclear fuel, the impact of those decisions were limited.

"However, almost all other long-established nuclear plant operators in the world, the German nuclear phase-out has not proven contagious," he said on the call.

Gitzel's optimism comes in the wake of Cameco reporting a 23 percent drop in second quarter 2011 profits along with a 32 percent decline in 6-month net earnings, even as Cameco's production increased 16 percent during 2011's second quarter.

In the wake of the disaster in Japan, share prices of uranium companies dropped on expectations that the calamity would cause countries, particularly those in the developing world, to scale back their projected nuclear power development projects or even scrap them entirely, as Germany did.

But Gitzel saw possibilities, too.

Gitzel said that all 13 of the Peoples Republic of China's operating reactors have passed safety inspections and safety checks of the country's 27 reactors under construction should be finished within two months.

And, while Japan represents about 17-18 percent of Cameco's sales, the company could sell its output currently purchased by Japan to other customers at potentially higher prices in the event that Japan, following in Germany's footsteps, decides to abandon nuclear power.

Japan counts on its 54 nuclear plants -- 38 of which are offline -- to provide nearly one-third of the country's electrical needs.

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