As part of a broader series on the future of global energy markets, S&P Global has released a report on examining the growing interest in nuclear power as the solution to many of the problems the energy sector faces.

To read the full details and conclusions of the report, click here.

As part of a broader series on the future of the global energy markets, S&P Global has released a new report examining the growing interest in nuclear energy as the solution to many of the problems the energy sector faces.

Uranium futures took a sharp plunge below $69 per pound in late January, to a low of about $67 on January 27, before climbing back to $71.35 on January 31, according to Trading Economics. The New York City–based analyst firm noted that this was the market’s first drop below $69 in 16 months and that the price fluctuation happened as “markets recalibrated demand expectations against a backdrop of ample supply.”

Uranium prices have fallen to their lowest level in more than a month, to just under $79 per pound, on Friday, November 1, according to analyst website Trading Economics. The lower prices, according to the site, are related to recent evidence of increased supply. This contrasts with the longer-term expectations of bullish demand and higher prices.

Uranium prices reached $81.9 per pound on October 1, the highest level in more than a month, according to online information source Trading Economics. The company reported that the last time prices were this high was on August 23, when they passed $82 per pound. Since the beginning of 2024, uranium prices have seen a decrease in price of about $9.10 per pound, or about 10 percent. Those statistics are based on trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks the benchmark market.

Hours before the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) opened a scheduled September 19 hearing on fusion energy technology development, CNN published an article titled “The US led on nuclear fusion for decades. Now China is in a position to win the race.” The article was entered into the hearing record, but senators had already gotten the message.

China’s State Council has approved the construction of four new nuclear reactors based on Westinghouse's AP1000 technology at two Chinese power plants. China’s State Power Investment Corporation plans to build two of the reactors at its Bailong nuclear power project in Guangxi Province, where preparatory groundwork construction can now begin at the site. The other two units were approved for the Lufeng nuclear power plant, located in Guangdong Province and owned by China General Nuclear Power Corporation, where sitework has already begun.

Wald

“We’re going to have to do things differently if we hope to trim the output of climate-changing emissions,” writes Matthew L. Wald in an essay recently published by the Breakthrough Institute. Wald is an independent energy analyst, writer, and Nuclear News contributor who formerly worked for the Nuclear Energy Institute and the New York Times. In the essay, he says that despite optimism surrounding progress in clean energy, consumption of fossil fuels is growing, and greenhouse gas emissions are increasing.

Wald suggests that this situation is unlikely to turn around until small modular reactors and other advanced nuclear technologies are demonstrated to be commercially viable.

Race to zero emissions? Wald notes that “global consumption of fossil fuels grew 1.5 percent last year.” Furthermore, “the fossil mix is getting worse; oil was up even faster than total fossil consumption, and demand passed 100 million barrels a day for the first time.

The recent start-up the Nuclear Company announced plans this month to deploy a series of nuclear reactors by the mid-2030s using a “design-once, build-many approach.”

The venture capital–funded firm wants to use proven, licensed technology and target sites that already have some level of licensing approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build enough reactors to produce 6 gigawatts of electricity across the country.

New testing done at China’s Shidaowan nuclear power plant has confirmed its ability to be naturally cooled down, an industry-first milestone for achieving commercial-scale inherent safety, according to researchers.

The recent article “How Innovative Is China in Nuclear Power?” published by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) describes how China has become the world’s leading proponent of nuclear energy. The reason, the article maintains, is because its nuclear industry has been “supported by a whole-of-government strategy that provides extensive financing and systemic coordination.”

Ken Petersen
president@ans.org

With all that is happening in the industry these days, the nuclear fuel supply chain is still a hot topic. The Russian assault in Ukraine continues to upend the “where” and “how” of attaining nuclear fuel—and it has also motivated U.S. legislators to act.

Two years into the Russian war with Ukraine, things are different. The Inflation Reduction Act was passed in 2022, authorizing $700 million in funding to support production of high-­assay low-enriched uranium in the United States. Meanwhile, the Department of Energy this January issued a $500 million request for proposals to stimulate new HALEU production. The Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2024 includes $2.7 billion in funding for new uranium enrichment production. This funding was diverted from the Civil Nuclear Credits program and will only be released if there is a ban on importing Russian uranium into the United States—which could happen by the time this column is published, as legislation that bans Russian uranium has passed the House as of this writing and is headed for the Senate. Also being considered is legislation that would sanction Russian uranium. Alternatively, the Biden-Harris administration may choose to ban Russian uranium without legislation in order to obtain access to the $2.7 billion in funding.

Borisov

Russian space agency Roscosmos has announced its intention to build a nuclear reactor on the lunar surface in collaboration with the China National Space Administration. According to Roscosmos director general Yury Borisov, “Today we are seriously considering a project—somewhere at the turn of 2033–2035—to deliver and install a [nuclear] power unit on the lunar surface together with our Chinese colleagues.” The reactor would apparently be used to supply power to the Russian-Chinese International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), plans for which the two nations unveiled in 2021.

These plans come on top of previously announced plans of the United States and United Kingdom for lunar nuclear reactors.

China is on pace to add as many as 10 reactors a year and may surpass the United States’ total nuclear capacity by 2030.

As part of this growth, construction is wrapping up this month on the world’s first onshore commercial modular pressurized water reactor—Linglong One, which is located in the Hainan province. That’s according to China Metallurgical News, an established news unit reporting on China’s industrial chain.

Donalds

Fleischmann

Two U.S. representatives—Chuck Fleischmann (R., Tenn.) and Byron Donalds (R., Fla.)—have published an op-ed in the Washington Examiner that calls for the United States to seize “the current nuclear economic opportunity worldwide” and “once again be the world leader in nuclear power.” The congressmen emphasize that “it is in the best interest of the United States and the rest of the world for our country, instead of China and Russia, to be the preferred partner for embarking nuclear nations.”

Atoms for Peace: Fleischmann and Donalds argue that President Dwight Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” speech in 1953 established the foundational principles for the domestic and global success of the U.S. civil nuclear energy industry—and they urge the nation to reclaim those principles now. They point to the numerous benefits of nuclear energy, ranging from economic development to desalination to sustainable fuel creation, and note that the “global market is ripe for nuclear technology.”

A new material based on amidoxime chemical groups may allow electrochemical extraction technology to extract uranium ions from seawater more efficiently than previous methods, according to a recent study published by the American Chemical Society’s ACS Central Science. If put into practical use, the new method, which was developed by researchers in China, could offer an environmentally sustainable source of fuel for nuclear power plants.

The government of China has formed a new national industrial consortium focused on the development and advancement of nuclear fusion technology, news outlets have reported.

The World Nuclear Association and the African Commission on Nuclear Energy (AFCONE) last year signed a memorandum of understanding to encourage the use of nuclear energy in support of economic growth and sustainable energy development in Africa.

Washington, D.C. – The American Nuclear Society (ANS) supports the start of Japan’s controlled release of re-treated, diluted tritium wastewater into the sea from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), which sustained damage in the aftermath of a 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has expanded the scope of its nuclear-related export controls on China and Macao (a special administrative region in southeastern China) by establishing additional nuclear nonproliferation controls and license requirements for items that could “contribute to nuclear activities of concern.” The BIS stated that the action, effective August 11, was taken in response to China’s military modernization and nuclear force expansion.