Below is an article written by Anthony Milewski, Director of Fission Uranium.
Progress towards restarting two reactors at the Sendai nuclear power station took a big step forward late last week – perhaps the last major step needed before the final nod is given to start flicking the switches on.
The Sendai plant at a distance
As covered in Reuters, the Kagoshima District Court has rejected a legal bid to block the restarts and thus the No 1 and No 2 Sendai reactors remain on track to restart operations mid-Summer this year.
Legal action is widely seen as the last remaining hurdle to the numerous reactors that are going through restart application procedures. Around two weeks ago, a separate (temporary) injunction was granted that postponed the process for two reactors operated by Kansai Electric. The consensus amongst industry observers is that the judge involved is something of a maverick in the conservative Japanese judiciary. If that’s the case, I expect that the challenge Kansai has already launched will be successful and the reactors will resume their restart progress.
Anthony’s Opinion
What’s the takeaway from all of this? Well I’m in agreement with the Reuters article. The journalist points to a vote of confidence for Japan’s nuclear regulator (which has given the green light to both the Sendai and the Kansai reactors). It’s also a big boost for Japan’s ruling party, which is looking to the restarts to lower electricity costs and reduce the need for fossil fuel imports. According to Reuters, recent customs data shows Japan’s imports of liquefied natural gas at a record-high 7.78 trillion yen ($65 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31.
As for the uranium sector as a whole, while the big story remains the reactor construction going on in China, India, Russia and other countries, Japan has an important role to play. The first restarts won’t immediately bring Japan’s utilities into the market but it will act as a signal that those same utilities will look towards holding onto their uranium stockpiles for domestic consumption rather than selling. This in turn will trigger nuclear-focused utilities in other countries to look elsewhere for their fuel. Ultimately they will have to start getting back into the market to secure their long-term supply. More buying will mean upwards pressure on price and that’s good for all of us.
Anthony Milewski, Director of Fission Uranium.
Fission Uranium and Dev Randhawa
Dev Randhawa is the founding Chairman and CEO of Fission Uranium. He has won numerous awards for his work in the industry, including Northern Miner Magazine ‘Mining Person of the Year 2013’ and as part of the Fission team, Mining Journal Excellence Award 2015 for Exploration.
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