But we misjudged both the ingenuity of the equipment manufacturers and the willingness of the utility industry to accept the gamble involved in entering into purchase agreement for new plants. Since 1962, the AEC has successively revised its estimates of cumulative demand through 1980 from 70,000 tons of U3O8 to 140,000 tons, then to 172,000 tons, and its most recent forecast indicates a cumulative demand by 1980 at 245, 000 tons and an annual requirement in 1980 at 38,000 tons. During the past two years about half of the new electrical generating facilities announced have been nuclear. So it appears that we are on the threshold of a new golden age for the uranium industry. And I share in this belief. Yet, as prudent businessmen we must be aware of the great areas of uncertainty which still face us, and we must act with a great deal of judgment during the coming years to make certain that we sustain a steady yet rapid growth of the industry. On the demand side, forecasts of future consumption in the U. S. vary widely, from the AEC estimate of 38,000 tons annually in 1980 to private estimates ranging up to 53, 000 tons. Estimates of reserves of U3O8 required to meet these respective demands to 1980 and to provide an adequate forward reserve range from about 660,000 tons to almost 1,100,000 tons. This gives us a very wide target to shoot for, and if we miss the target by much we will either seriously curtail the natural growth of the industry, or even worse, find ourselves faced with a great oversupply and some relatively lean years from the standpoint of profits. Bringing our sights closer to the present, the picture is also uncertain. The cost of nuclear facilities has escalated rapidly in the past two years, and - 5-