BRISBANE, Australia, April 5, 2007 (Starlink Media) – A growing realisation of the need to combat climate change has led many of today's youth to view nuclear power as a viable alternative.
BRISBANE, Australia, April 5, 2007 (Starlink Media) – Mushroom clouds, the Cold War and Chernobyl made nuclear power a taboo subject to many in the decades following 1945.
But a growing realisation of the need to combat climate change and recognition of nuclear power’s role as part of the solution has led many of today’s youth to view the industry with a new perspective, according to nuclear and uranium analyst Pepita Maiden.
The change in perspective has come at a time of soaring uranium prices.
“Over the last 10 years, there has been a massive increase of around 10-fold in the uranium price. From around US$8.50 a pound in 2004, it’s currently over US$100 a pound,” she said.
While underinvestment in uranium mining partly explains the price rise, there have been other factors at play, the analyst said.
“Over the last 20 years or so, since around the mid-80s, there’s been a decline in the nuclear power industry in North America and Western Europe,” Ms Maiden said.
“The prime driver for that was public perception - there were Cold War uncertainties, there had been a couple of accidents - everyone remembers Chernobyl - and a number of other reasons. Nuclear power was also expensive compared to coal-fired power for instance, and cheap gas was coming out of Eastern Europe.”
But attitudes towards nuclear power have changed over the past five to 10 years, she said, with the key driver being climate change.
“People’s concerns about climate change and the effects are enabling governments to reassess nuclear power on the basis of securing energy supply and supplying power for expected increased demand in the future,” she said.
Currently supplying around 17 per cent of global electricity, there are around 435 operating nuclear reactors worldwide in 32 countries. Add to this 32 under construction and another 64 in the works, on top of over 165 having been proposed, and the industry is growing rapidly, she said.
“Another key reason is generational differences on perceptions of nuclear power. Anyone over the age of 30 has had 40 years of antipathy towards the nuclear industry as part of their history,” she said.
“We’ve had the mushroom cloud, all the imagery of nuclear war, movies like The China Syndrome and even things like Godzilla, who’ve made an impact on our perceptions of nuclear power.”
In contrast, Generation Y have grown up in the post-Cold War era in which the threat of nuclear war has been relatively distant.
“Their key issues now are climate change – there have been some blockbuster movies over the last couple of years on climate change, such as An Inconvenient Truth and The Day After Tomorrow.
“In contrast, during the last five years there have been very few nuclear specific or anti-nuclear movies. That’s a massive change.
“Anyone under the age of 30 is thinking, “Why don’t we have nuclear power - we don’t understand why the reactors have shut down.”
This change in public attitudes may lay the groundwork for the coming expansion in the industry, and Australia’s up and coming uranium explorers are set to benefit.
Copyright Starlink MediaTM
But a growing realisation of the need to combat climate change and recognition of nuclear power’s role as part of the solution has led many of today’s youth to view the industry with a new perspective, according to nuclear and uranium analyst Pepita Maiden.
The change in perspective has come at a time of soaring uranium prices.
“Over the last 10 years, there has been a massive increase of around 10-fold in the uranium price. From around US$8.50 a pound in 2004, it’s currently over US$100 a pound,” she said.
While underinvestment in uranium mining partly explains the price rise, there have been other factors at play, the analyst said.
“Over the last 20 years or so, since around the mid-80s, there’s been a decline in the nuclear power industry in North America and Western Europe,” Ms Maiden said.
“The prime driver for that was public perception - there were Cold War uncertainties, there had been a couple of accidents - everyone remembers Chernobyl - and a number of other reasons. Nuclear power was also expensive compared to coal-fired power for instance, and cheap gas was coming out of Eastern Europe.”
But attitudes towards nuclear power have changed over the past five to 10 years, she said, with the key driver being climate change.
“People’s concerns about climate change and the effects are enabling governments to reassess nuclear power on the basis of securing energy supply and supplying power for expected increased demand in the future,” she said.
Currently supplying around 17 per cent of global electricity, there are around 435 operating nuclear reactors worldwide in 32 countries. Add to this 32 under construction and another 64 in the works, on top of over 165 having been proposed, and the industry is growing rapidly, she said.
“Another key reason is generational differences on perceptions of nuclear power. Anyone over the age of 30 has had 40 years of antipathy towards the nuclear industry as part of their history,” she said.
“We’ve had the mushroom cloud, all the imagery of nuclear war, movies like The China Syndrome and even things like Godzilla, who’ve made an impact on our perceptions of nuclear power.”
In contrast, Generation Y have grown up in the post-Cold War era in which the threat of nuclear war has been relatively distant.
“Their key issues now are climate change – there have been some blockbuster movies over the last couple of years on climate change, such as An Inconvenient Truth and The Day After Tomorrow.
“In contrast, during the last five years there have been very few nuclear specific or anti-nuclear movies. That’s a massive change.
“Anyone under the age of 30 is thinking, “Why don’t we have nuclear power - we don’t understand why the reactors have shut down.”
This change in public attitudes may lay the groundwork for the coming expansion in the industry, and Australia’s up and coming uranium explorers are set to benefit.
Copyright Starlink MediaTM
