By MoneyMorning.com.au
In this article, we’re going to show you a different way to profit from nuclear power… Yes, nuclear power.
But not in the way you may think.
Because, as you’ll soon see, this opportunity has nothing to do with buying the last of the beat-down uranium stocks from the ‘Fukushima Fire Sale’… Giving terrorists access to nuclear fuel… Or subjecting anyone, anywhere, to the risk of radiation poisoning.
In fact, this is an opportunity to make money CLEANING UP the nuclear industry. And by cleaning up, we mean SHUTTING DOWN.
You see, as of July 2011, the World Nuclear Association has retired the following nuclear related facilities from operation:
- 100 uranium mines…
- 85 commercial power reactors…
- 45 experimental or prototype reactors…
- 250-plus research reactors…
- And ‘a number’ of fuel cycle facilities…
All of them need to be decommissioned.
But so far, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reports, only 17 of the 218 commercial nuclear reactors on the ‘permanent shut down’ list have been dismantled completely and made ‘perfectly safe’…
This is why New Scientist recently reported, ‘Decommissioning nuclear power plants will become a huge global business in the 21st century’.
Guess how much it costs to decommission a single nuclear power plant… Around half a billion dollars. Let’s call it $480 million.
Multiply that by the 201 reactors the IAEA says still need to be dismantled and you’re looking at a $96.4 billion dollar industry.
And that’s just the spoils that will go to the clean-up crews. As you’ll see in a moment, there are plenty of other businesses on the outskirts of this industry who could claim a slice of this monster-profit pie.
You see, even if more countries follow Germany, Italy and Switzerland and pull the plug on their nuclear plants, it will be great news for this sector. Because the number of plants to decommission will grow – fast.
And then there are the ‘pro nuclear’ countries, such as China and India. According to the World Nuclear Association, China’s demand for uranium may rise to 20,000 tonnes a year by 2020… That would be equal to 39.6 per cent of the 50,500 tonnes mined around the world in 2010… Because it has plans to build 100 new reactors. And Srikumar Banerjee, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, says India will increase its nuclear capacity 13-fold in the next 20 years…
And you know what that means… Sustained demand for nuclear power plant decommissioning services well into the future.
Therein lies the heart of what could be a huge profit opportunity for you as an investor.
This is a service we will need from today all the way through to at least 2060.
Whether it’s investing in the companies that produce gear to protect workers from radiation… (Such as UniTech Services Group, a fully owned subsidiary of UniFirst Corp [NYSE: UNF].)
Tech companies that produce the gadgets and machinery used – right now – to shut down plants safely…
A small-cap tech innovator coming up with faster, safer ways to clean up the closed plants…
Or the groups that decommission the plants…
This sector could give you MORE gains than any cheap uranium stock.
Of course, this business is yet to take off. As we said above, only 17 plants have been fully and safely shut down so far. But there are hundreds to go. And that number is growing all the time.
Is there profit potential in this idea? There could be. But then again, maybe there’ll be nothing in it for investors.
Either way, it’s a new way of looking at the nuclear energy problem. And with gas prices at record lows, maybe this is where fossil fuels make a comeback.
It would be ironic if the thing to kill the nuclear energy industry wasn’t the rabid green movement… but fossil fuels!
Aaron Tyrrell
Editor, Money Morning
The “After America” Archives…
‘After America’: The World Reset
2012-03-17 – Callum Newman
‘After America’: Threats and Opportunities
2012-03-16 – Callum Newman
China and The Revolution
2012-03-15 – Callum Newman
Cocktails and Central Banks
2012-03-14 – Callum Newman
Prelude to ‘After America’
2012-03-13 – Callum Newman
