Uranium (Nuclear Energy)

[investar]

The price of nat gas in Europe is indeed skyrocketing in the last days and weeks.

And the minds are evolving towards MORE nuclear clean energy.

As we see it is not smart to trust the supply from countries like Kazakhstan, it is getting more and more obvious that we should look at Canada and Australia for (new or existing) uranium.

Baselode Energy (FIND.V) has a discovery already, is well cashed up and will have good newsflow in the next months and quarters.
Laramide (LAM.TO) might become a takeover target.

Other interesting names?

[investar]

https://www.mining.com/web/uranium-mini ... -supplier/

The Biden administration is considering imposing sanctions on Russia’s state-owned atomic energy company, Rosatom Corp., a major supplier of fuel and technology to power plants around the world, according to people familiar with the matter.


No final decision has been made and the White House is consulting with the nuclear power industry about the potential impact, said the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss private deliberations.

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Rosatom is a delicate target because the company and its subsidiaries account for about 35% of global uranium enrichment and has agreements to ship the nuclear fuel to countries across Europe. Any punishment would also have to exempt the work Rosatom does with Iran under the terms of the deal limiting the country’s nuclear program, which Biden is seeking to revive.

Uranium stocks, ETFs jump
The Global Uranium X ETF jumped on the news, rising as much as 3.7% to a session high. Cameco Corporation was up 5.5% in Toronto and uranium explorer Denison Mines Corp. rose 4.4%, Energy Fuels Inc. rose 4.6% and NexGen Energy Ltd. increased 3.3%. In the U.S., Uranium Energy Corporation shares rose 0.7%. The NorthShore Global Uranium Mining EFT gained as much as 6%.

It’s unclear what the sanctions would mean for American nuclear plants and importers of fuel. Russia accounted for 16.5% of the uranium imported into the U.S. in 2020 and 23% of the enriched uranium needed to power the fleet of U.S. commercial nuclear reactors. The reactors typically need to refuel every 18 to 24 months, and utilities typically buy fuel years in advance and maintain significant inventories.

...


I think it's a good idea to look at uranium explorers or juniors in western jurisdictions. Canada or Australia, ideally

[winston]

Japan plans to revive idle nuke plants by winter

By ANDREW SALMON

Will work to operate up to nine nuclear reactors by winter, up from the five currently in operation, according to S&P Global. Those nine plants can cover roughly 10% of Japan’s power consumption.

Nine reactors are a small fraction of the 54 reactors that Japan operated and generated 30% of national energy before the Fukushima.

Source: Asia Times

https://asiatimes.com/2022/07/japan-pla ... 340db87eb1

[winston]

In Stunning Post-Fukushima Shift, Japan To Build More Nuclear Power Plants

BY TYLER DURDEN

Japan imports at least 9% of LNG from Russia.

Energy officials would draw up concrete plans for future nuclear power plant projects by the end of this year. He also instructed officials to consider extending the lifespan of existing reactors beyond the current maximum lifespan of six decades.

Source: Zero Hedge

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/post- ... il-worsens

[winston]

How to Invest in Nuclear Energy and the Uranium That Powers It

Nuclear power is the biggest source of clean energy in the U.S., producing more electricity than either solar or wind.

The U.S. is the biggest producer of electricity from nuclear energy, accounting for about a third of the global total.

As of 2021, there were 93 commercial nuclear reactors at 55 nuclear power plants in 28 states, and the average age of the reactors was about 40 years old.

As of 2021, there were 93 commercial nuclear reactors at 55 nuclear power plants in 28 states, and the average age of the reactors was about 40 years old.

In the U.S., nuclear energy accounted for about a fifth of the total of the 4,116 billion kilowatt-hours produced in 2021.

Kazakhstan was by far the biggest producer of uranium in 2021, at 21,819 metric tons, followed by Namibia (5,753 tons), Canada (4,693 tons), and Australia (4,192 tons).

A total of almost 57,000 tons were produced that year, which was down from a peak of about 74,400 tons in 2016.

Source: THE STREET

https://www.thestreet.com/investing/etf ... owers%2BIt

[winston]

August 26, 2022

Climate Bill’s Nuclear Energy Provisions to Boost Uranium Stocks

by Heather Bell

The Inflation Reduction Act includes a range of tax and production credits for nuclear energy and research funding to about $700 million in support of high-assay, low-enriched uranium fuel and $150 million in funding for the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy.

The act could provide up to $30 billion in production credits, which could in turn stave off the early retirement of a significant number of nuclear power plants.

In September 2021 notes that nuclear energy accounts for just 10% of the world’s electricity production.

Korea has 25 nuclear reactors that generate roughly one-third of the country’s electricity, with three more currently under construction.

Japan needs to import 90% of its energy requirements. Prior to the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the country generated 30% of its electricity through nuclear power. Japan now plans to generate half of its electricity through nuclear power by 2030.

Kazakhstan, a country closely allied with Russia is the largest producer of uranium in the world, accounting for 43% of the global supply in 2019 produced from 13 different mining projects.

Source: ETF.com

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/climate- ... 00668.html

[winston]

America's new nuclear power industry has a Russian problem

by Sarah Mcfarlane, Timothy Gardner & Susanna Twidale

High assay low enriched uranium (HALEU)

The US government is in the final stages of evaluating how much of its inventory of 585.6 tonnes of highly enriched uranium to allocate to reactors.

HALEU is enriched to levels of up to 20%, rather than around 5% for the uranium that powers most nuclear plants. But only TENEX, which is part of Russian state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom, sells HALEU commercially at the moment.

Nuclear power currently generates about 10% of the world's electricity.

Small Modular Reactors (SMR)

Companies in the United States and Europe have plans to produce HALEU on a commercial scale but even in the most optimistic scenarios, they say it would take at least five years from the point they decide to proceed.

Once the facility gets up and running, it will take five years before Centrus can start producing 13 tonnes of HALEU a year. But that's only a third of the amount the DOE projects will be needed for US reactors by 2030.

Source: Reuters

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/ ... an-problem

[behappyalways]

Nuclear fusion ‘breakthrough’: US laboratory’s net energy gain paves way for clean power future
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-DlzLB5bbQc

[winston]

Japan turns back to nuclear power to tackle energy crisis

by Yuka Obayashi & Miho Uranaka

Will now seek to replace de-comissioned ones and extend the lifespan of others.

Would allow existing nuclear reactors to operate beyond the current limit of 60 years, as well as support the development of new ones.

Further details will be discussed in Parliament next year.

In the financial year to March 2021, nuclear accounted for 3.9% of Japan’s power mix, with the government aiming to boost it to as much as 22% by 2030.

Source: Reuters

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/ ... rgy-crisis

[winston]

France's EDF delays restart of nuclear reactors in blow to energy supply

by Josefine Fokuhl

Extended maintenance halts at two nuclear reactors by more than four months.

Delayed the start-up of a new nuclear reactor in western France by several months into 2024 due to extended work. That project is already more than a decade late.

Source: Bloomberg

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/ ... rgy-supply