Cameco says has not committed to Kazakh exchange

TORONTO, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Canada's Cameco Corp (CCO.TO) said on Monday it wants more transparency in uranium pricing but that it has not pledged support for a Kazakh plan to create an international uranium exchange.

A spokesman for Cameco, the world's top uranium producer, said the company has not committed itself to any plan, despite comments from a top Kazakh industry official last week suggesting Cameco was backing a proposal by state-owned uranium company Kazatomprom.

"We continue to talk with other industry organizations, and obviously we're willing to participate in a venture that we see as meeting that goal. But at this point we haven't committed to anything," spokesman Gord Struthers said.

On Thursday, Kazatomprom head Mukhtar Dzhakishev said top global companies such as Cameco and France's Areva CEPFi.PA had largely agreed to a proposal to set up an exchange as early as next year.

Demand for uranium has boomed as China, India, Russia build new reactors, while the West has returned to nuclear power as a means to diversify energy sources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Currently, most uranium sales are done through private long-term deals at prices that usually don't correlate very closely with pricing on the somewhat illiquid spot market UX-U3O8-SPT.

Canada is the world's top uranium producing nation, while Kazakhstan is No. 3. (Reporting by Cameron French; Editing by Peter Galloway)