We’re answering the increasing call for uranium.
Climate change is driving the shift away from fossil fuel electricity production to those that release minimal greenhouse gases such as hydro, wind, solar and more increasingly, carbon-free nuclear energy. Uranium miners and developers such as Okapi Resources are poised to benefit from this transition.
Generating the lowest greenhouse gases of any power source, nuclear power has the potential to lead the world towards decarbonisation. It is a clear frontrunner for replacing fossil fuel sources over time. Renewables have become much more competitive in cost, but they do not have the dependable capacity to take a significant share of the broader energy market. In addition to being clean and reliable, nuclear power is efficient, safe and may offer greater energy security for many Western nations including the USA where Okapi has established a dominant uranium position.
1. Nuclear power is reliable.
For a national, state or local utility, the appeal of nuclear power starts with its reliability. Regions with nuclear power plants deploy reactors around-the-clock, using nuclear as the baseload power source for electric grids. All other power sources depend on less reliable inputs — whether that’s fuels with volatile prices or natural conditions that are unpredictable and intermittent, like wind, solar and hydroelectric.
Nuclear Energy Provides the Most Reliable Baseload
2. Nuclear power is efficient.
One uranium fuel pellet — about the size of a gummy bear — is the energy equivalent of three barrels of oil, one tonne of coal or 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas, according to the American Nuclear Association.
3. Nuclear power is clean.
Nuclear energy generates the lowest greenhouse gases of any power source. Over the full lifecycle of nuclear power production, each gigawatt-hour of electricity contributes about three CO2 equivalent emissions per gigawatt-hour of electricity, which is in line with wind and solar.
Nuclear has the Lowest Full-Cycle Carbon Footprint
4. Nuclear power is safe.
A common association with nuclear energy is that it’s unsafe because of the risk of leaking radiation from reactors or spent fuel — but it is scientifically a far safer energy production method than fossil fuel sources. The mortality rate for the nuclear energy cycle is 0.07 per TWh (terawatt-hour), which includes Chernobyl and Fukushima, which is in line with renewables and about 350x safer than coal.
5. Nuclear power may offer greater energy security.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict has created a sense of urgency among Western nations to securitise energy sources. On March 3, 2022, the IEA released A 10-Point Plan to Reduce the European Union’s Reliance on Natural Gas; one of its points recommends maximising dispatchable lower emissions sources, including nuclear. Meanwhile, the USA Nuclear Energy Institute, the trade association for the country’s 60 nuclear plant operators, says it hopes to nearly double their output over the next three decades. In June 2022, it was reported that the Biden administration was pushing lawmakers to support a $4.3 billion plan to buy enriched uranium directly from domestic producers to wean the US off Russian imports of the nuclear-reactor fuel. This follows the US Government allocating US$6 billion to aid nuclear reactors that are in danger of closing. Before that, President Trump’s 2021 budget included annual expenditure of US$150 million for 10 years to create a US$1.5 billion strategic uranium reserve.