Mike Fagan,
Editor
June 24, 2022
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and the energy crisis it’s now creating — has Western economies scrambling to boost clean-energy sources in the face of rising fossil fuel costs.
Renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and hydro are no doubt an important part of our future energy mix… but they’re a long way off from replacing fossil fuels to any large degree.
Currently, renewable energy sources represent only about 20% of domestically produced electricity in the United States with wind-power leading the way.
Compare that to fossil fuels, which account for nearly 60% of US electricity generation: coal, petroleum, natural gas, and other carbon-emitting gases such as methane.
And that brings us to carbon-emission-free nuclear energy powered by uranium.
Nuclear power currently provides about 20% of US electricity — enough to power one-in-five American homes.
Yet, more importantly… nuclear power provides almost 50% of America’s clean, carbon-free electricity — making it the Rolls-Royce of clean-energy sources.
At present, the United States leads the world with 96 operating commercial nuclear reactors at 55 nuclear power plants in 28 states.
America also boasts the world’s largest fleet of nuclear-powered ships: 72 submarines, 10 aircraft carriers, and one research vessel… all of which require uranium — aka yellowcake — as the primary fuel source.
In other words, the United States is the world's leading user of commercial nuclear power.
Yet, we produce almost zero uranium!
After producing all the yellowcake we needed for decades, ending in the late-80s, the United States has let its domestic uranium production sector fall completely by the wayside.
That’s all changing now…
The US just nixed Russian imports of fossil fuels. And there are designs underway to get Russian uranium out of the supply chain as well.
To that end, the US government is redoubling its efforts to revitalize America’s once-dominant uranium sector.
The Biden administration is currently asking Congress for $4.3 billion to buy domestically sourced uranium.
And not just to reduce our dependence on rogue nations like Russia and Kazakhstan for our uranium requirements…
… but to revamp our own uranium industry to create new high-paying American jobs while simultaneously restabilizing our national security.
Of course, the one drawback or pushback to nuclear power is that no one really wants a new nuclear power plant popping up in their own backyard for fear of an accident.
Well-chronicled calamities like Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and, more recently, Fukushima in Japan are still fresh in the minds of many people.
But like all industries, technological advancements in the nuclear space are making nuclear power plants not only more efficient but far safer as well.
The recent advent of Small Modular Reactors — or SMRs — are a key part of the US Department of Energy’s goal of developing safe, clean, and affordable nuclear power options.
The SMRs currently under development in the United States represent a variety of sizes, technology options, capabilities, and deployment scenarios.
These advanced reactors — envisioned to vary in size from tens of megawatts up to hundreds of megawatts — can be used for power generation, heat processing, desalination and other industrial uses.
SMRs offer numerous advantages over their larger and aging counterparts such as relatively small physical footprints, reduced capital investment, ability to be sited in locations not possible for larger nuclear plants, and provisions for incremental power additions.
A host of startups are working toward making nuclear power more acceptable as well.
For instance, NuScale Power LLC is building SMRs that could eventually power 60,000 homes per unit.
The firm, which has received almost a half billion dollars of support from Washington, is working with the US and Romanian governments to build a plant in the eastern European country.
And Sweden’s Seaborg Technologies has teamed up with Samsung Heavy Industries to build a floating, compact molten salt reactor.
Bill Gates-backed TerraPower — also focused on SMRs — has partnered with South Korea’s industrial conglomerate SK Group to build these plants.
Even British luxury automobile maker Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd. is getting in on the action. Backed by the UK government and other investors, the firm is committed to building advanced SMRs.
The Biden administration is also finally putting its money where its mouth is.
In addition to the pending $4.3 billion for the revitalization of America’s domestic uranium sector, the administration has issued a Notice of Intent for the implementation of a $6 billion nuclear credit program to support the operation of reactors across the nation.
And earlier this month, the US Department of Energy awarded over $60 million for 74 US-based nuclear projects.
The powerful tailwinds that are currently in-play for the US nuclear power sector are also trickling down to the commodity space with uranium surging from the $25 per pound range to currently near $50 per pound.
All indicators point to even higher uranium prices in the near future due to favorable supply/demand fundamentals.
Over the next ten years, the world will need more than 200 million pounds of uranium annually.
But… there is only about 150 million pounds per year globally with all-in sustaining costs (AISC) below US$50 per pound — and 20% or more of that has been knocked offline because of COVID-related disruptions and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
That means higher uranium prices are on the way…
It also means it’s still early-innings for investors seeking to gain exposure to the uranium bull by investing in the small-cap uranium explorers and developers that’ll be extracting yellowcake from US soil for American consumption.
Here’s an under-the-radar uranium miner — trading well below US$1 per share — that’s positioning to corner the US market.
Mike Fagan
Editor, Daily Profit Cycle