Can nuclear power enjoy its day in the sun?
Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s pro-nuclear energy stance has boosted the fortunes of uranium companies, but question marks linger over its place in the energy mix.
It is known as the jewel in the Booderee National Park.
Murrays Beach, on the southern headland of Jervis Bay on the NSW south coast, features crystal-clear waters, abundant marine life and pristine white sands.
Yet what is now a carpark above the beach was once cleared in the early 1970s for the construction of a nuclear energy plant.
While that Cold War leap into nuclear technology was put on ice because of the nation’s abundant coal and emerging gas supplies, more than 50 years later, Australia is once again mulling over the question of nuclear energy.
Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is backing nuclear energy to provide reliable baseload power to support wind and solar as Australia transitions from coal and gas-fired plants.
Dutton argues global concerns about climate change are supporting the role emissions-free nuclear energy must play in the energy transition. The Liberal Party’s policy includes both smaller modular-type nuclear plants and larger capacity next-generation reactors.
Dutton’s move has prompted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to declare that the next federal election will be a referendum on nuclear power versus renewable energy, vowing to campaign on the issue every day until polling day.
The Prime Minister continues to hold the position that “nuclear power can work overseas and does work” but “doesn’t stack up for Australia”.
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen has pointed to data in the CSIRO’s 2023-24 GenCost report claiming nuclear power is too costly and takes too long to build.
Australia mines 12 per cent of the world’s uranium supply from mines such as BHP’s Olympic Dam, although uranium is only a by-product of that mine, whose primary commodities are copper, gold and silver.
Rio Tinto’s Ranger uranium mine, close to the protected area of Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory, ceased mining for the resource in 2012 after 30 years and finally ended all operations in 2021, going into a state of rehabilitation. Yet investors in uranium stocks listed on the Australian Securities Exchange have enjoyed strong gains in recent years.
After going broke in 2016 and being restructured, shares in Paladin Energy have more than doubled over the past year.
Paladin’s flagship Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia restarted production in April with offtake agreements in place to US and European counterparties and it has a number of exploration projects.
Another strong performer has been NexGen Energy, which is listed both in Canada and Australia.
NexGen’s main development focus is the Rook I project in the Athabasca Basin in Canada, which hosts the Arrow discovery from 2014, considered to be the largest development-stage uranium deposit in Canada.