Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), announced today that the Cigar Lake
Joint Venture has decided to proceed from January 2005 with construction
of Cigar Lake uranium mine, which is currently under development in
Saskatchewan, Canada. 
The Joint Venture consists of 4 partners: TEPCO Resources Inc. (Canada),
TEPCO's wholly-owned subsidiary, CAMECO (Canada), COGEMA (France), and a
subsidiary of Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. (Canada).  TEPCO Resources Inc.
owns 5% interest of Cigar Lake uranium mine project. 

The project has so far devoted itself to prepare for the construction,
including licensing and detailed engineering.  The decision to proceed
with the construction was officially resolved among the Joint Venture
partners at the Joint Venture Management Committee meeting held in
Saskatchewan on December 21, 2004 (Japan time) and Canadian Nuclear Safety
Commission approved the construction license on the same day.

Full-scale construction work will begin in January 2005 and commercial
production is expected to start in 2007.  It is planned that at full
production approximately 9,000 short tons of U3O8 uranium [Note 1] will
be produced per year in the 15-year period through 2021. 

The Cigar Lake mine, located in northern Saskatchewan, Canada, at 58
degrees north latitude, is one of the world's largest, high-grade [Note 2]
uranium deposit.  The project plans to adopt the very latest mining
technology called Jet Boring System [Note 3] to mine uranium ores, which
lies at some 450 meters below ground.  Proven and probable reserves of the
Cigar Lake deposit is approximately 176,000 short tons U3O8, of which
116,000 short tons U3O8 are decided this time to be mined as the first
stage (Phase 1) of the project.

TEPCO, for the purpose of securing a more stable supply of uranium through
participation in a uranium mine development project, established Canadian
subsidiary, TEPCO Resources Inc. in April 1997, and acquired 5% interest
in July of the same year. TEPCO will receive, per annum, 5% of the uranium
produced through the project (approximately 450 short tons of U3O8,
equivalent to approximately 10% of TEPCO's annual uranium demand), and
spend it to fuel its nuclear power plants.

[Note 1] Short ton of U3O8
A unit of measurement for the weight of uranium concentrate (U3O8).  1
short ton is equivalent to approximately 0.91 tons.  1 short ton of U3O8
is equivalent to approximately 0.77 tons of U (a unit of measurement for
the weight of uranium)

[Note 2] grade
The weight ratio of uranium contained in uranium ore. Generally, the higher
grade, the smaller quantity of uranium ore that is mined to obtain the same
amount of uranium.

[Note 3] Jet Boring System
A method whereby ores are collected through the injection of high-pressure
water. The ores are carried to above the ground via a pump as slurry
(a mixture of crushed ore fragments and water).

Appendix
Attached