Aug. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Market Vectors Nuclear Energy ETF, the exchange-traded fund started by Van Eck Global as a bet on rising demand for atomic power, fell on its initial day of trading today on the American Stock Exchange.

The fund aims to match the performance of Deutsche Borse Group's $110 billion DAXglobal Nuclear Energy Index, Principal Jan Van Eck said today at a meeting with financial reporters in New York. Van Eck had expected a debut price of $40 for the fund that has 350,000 shares outstanding. The fund fell 1.1 percent to $37.83 a share from an opening price of $38.25.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Japan's biggest nuclear- plant builder, comprised 9.7 percent of the index in Germany as of July 31, Van Eck Global said today in a statement. IHI Corp., a Tokyo-based manufacturer of nuclear-reactor vessels, was second followed by reactor-builder Hitachi Corp. and uranium miners, Uranium One Inc. and Cameco Corp.

``This is a pure-play index,'' Van Eck said. ``None of these companies are in the S&P 500 and almost none of them are in the major commodity, equity or even energy indexes in the United States.''

Uranium miners, plant builders and equipment-makers will likely comprise about 90 percent of the new fund's holdings, Van Eck said. The index is limited to companies that get at least half their revenue from uranium mining, storage, or nuclear plant infrastructure, equipment, fuel transport or power generation.

Uranium Prices

``As global warming concerns have arisen, the price of uranium has shot up,'' Van Eck said. ``The stocks of these uranium mining companies that were barely alive three or four years ago have gone up unbelievably. That will hit an investor's screen.''

Cameco, the largest uranium miner, has tripled to $40.76 in Toronto trading in three years. It's down from a high of $59.90 in June.

Power producers aren't included in the index because none meet the 50 percent criteria, Van Eck said. Utilities in Europe, China, India and the U.S. have begun construction of new nuclear facilities.

Van Eck, whose group has developed six exchange-traded funds under the Market Vectors label, said his group chose the Deutsche Borse nuclear index as representative of ``a real, viable industry.''

The Deutsche Borse 38-member nuclear index fell 4.4 percent to $287.25 as of 10:12 p.m. local time today in Frankfurt trading. Before today, it had risen 27 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jim Polson in New York at jpolson@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 15, 2007 16:14 EDT