Nuclear's Untapped Potential: What the 1950s Got Right About the Future & New Investors Now Entering

Recording date: 19th October 2023

*What’s been happening*

Spot uranium is back through US$70/lb after dipping into the $60s. The market has digested Kazatomprom’s plan to increase production in 2025 and realized supply is still going to be hard to come by.

The world has been very distracted by the Middle East and Gaza the last 10 days. Even though there are no direct effects on the uranium sector that are immediately apparent, it has added to investor uncertainty. This uncertainty affects sentiment more broadly and has put a pause on uranium stocks.

*Winner of the week*

Bangladesh this week celebrated becoming the 33rd nuclear power producing country in the world as they received their first batch of uranium fuel for their first ever nuclear power plant.

Plans for a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh were proposed back in 1961. In 2007 the proposal of 2 units at Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant was put forward. By 2009 the government approved a Russian proposal and 2 years later in 2011 an agreement with Rosatom was signed to build at Rooppur.

Construction of the first unit commenced in 2017, with commissioning in 2023 and the second unit in 2018, with commissioning in 2024. Russia has financed 90% of the project costs.

https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/327151/bangladesh-receives-russian-uranium-to-join
https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-a-f/bangladesh.aspx

*Bungle of the week*

Despite EU member states’ (including Germany) finally agreeing on the reform for the bloc’s electricity market, the German Greens party are still trying to derail the whole deal for the sake of preserving their sense of relevance maintained through irrational, unscientific opposition to nuclear power.

https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/france-and-germany-claim-eu-deal-electricity-market-success-despite-unresolved-nuclear-questions