Japan starting to recognise the importance of nuclear power

Nuclear power is starting to form a more significant part of the world energy mix, as highlighted by Japan’s decision to bring up to nine nuclear reactors online. The following Bloomberg article highlights the importance of nuclear power in the future of the global energy mix.

Read the full article here.

Our key takeaways:

• Japanese PM Fumio Kishida is said to be asking for as many as nine nuclear reactors to be turned online to help with an expected power crunch.
• Kishida said, “There are concerns about a power shortage this winter […]. We must prevent this situation.”
• Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will do what they can to push for nine reactors to operate in winter, which can cover roughly 10% of Japan’s power consumption.
• Ten of Japan’s 33 operable nuclear reactors have been restarted under post-Fukushima safety rules. The nuclear regulator cleared seven additional units, but none of these has restarted due to required upgrades or lack of local support.

The Bloomberg piece provides a good snapshot of the urgency at the government level to avoid domestic energy crises like the ones we are witnessing in the EU and in emerging economies such as Sri Lanka.

The drive toward energy independence isn't only a Japanese problem. We expect to see the rest of the world go down a similar path, whereby nuclear power starts to form a more significant part of the world's energy mix.

Nuclear power has one of the lowest carbon footprints and highest utility rates of all renewable energy technologies currently available.

We think this, combined with its ability to operate on an almost 24/7 basis, makes nuclear power the ideal source for baseload energy generation.

With uranium being the primary fuel source for nuclear power, we think our US uranium exploration investment GTI Energy (ASX: GTR), is well positioned to benefit from capital inflows into the uranium industry.

To see the key reasons why we are Invested in GTR and the key objectives we want to see the company achieve in 2022, check out our 2022 GTR Investment Memo by clicking here.