RE: Two good sites & this NUCLEAR KEY AS CARBON-FREE ENERGY
While the reputation of the nuclear industry will take a knock, in the longer term, uranium and the nuclear industry is likely to recover due to its importance as a carbon-free source of energy.
"There are really no alternatives to nuclear power -- wind turbines are not a viable substitute ... Countries such as China have no choice but to continue along the nuclear path," said a UK fund manager who specialises in uranium.
China's growth plans for its nuclear industry will require huge amounts of uranium to fuel plants.
China has 13 reactors currently in operation, with a total generating capacity of 10.8 gigawatts, but the government has approved an additional 32 units -- with a capacity of almost 35 gigawatts. Furthermore, many in the industry have been lobbying the government to double its target of 40 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2020.
The head of China's National Energy Administration, Liu Tienan, said on Sunday Chinese parties must carefully analyze the accident. The chairman of Shaw Group, which is building four reactors in China, said on Monday it did not see an impact on projects under construction in China. [ID:nTOE72D03B]
"The reaction of China to this crisis will have the greatest implications for future uranium demand", said Ian Hiscock, a consultant at CRU Group. "The long-run market fundamentals of the industry remain in place with security of supply and CO2 emissions key challenges for the energy market."
Another argument for an eventual rebound is that the new generation of nuclear plants are safer than those that are having problems in Japan.
Even Japan is likely to continue with its nuclear building programme with stricter safety guidelines, Layton said.
"I think consumption will go ahead from Japan. What they'll do is create bigger and strong tsunami walls and create even more reliable back-ups."
How soon the industry recovers depends on the severity of Japan's crisis. "To a degree it depends whether this thing melts down, then the impact on sentiment towards nuclear is even greater," Layton added.