Energy Crisis In Australia Essay

1001 Words5 Pages

Introduction
In the modern times when there is continuous emphasis on clean energy, one of the viable means is through nuclear power generation. The main raw material for the same is uranium and Australia is one of the largest global exporters of uranium. The reason of interest lies in policies related to mining of uranium. Australia is third largest producer of uranium after Kazakhstan and Canada. Having no nuclear power station in Australia, most of Uranium mined is not used onshore but for export.
But, the recent years have been bad for the uranium miners in Australia as there has been a severe decline in the uranium prices and these have reached their historical lows adversely impacting the Australian economy (Green, 2016). This particular …show more content…

Further, the western countries also responded by taking the decision to gradually shift to other energy means instead of nuclear energy. Additionally, there are concerns in the west about the nuclear liability clause as well which potentially could be beyond imagination. The developing countries which were earlier embarking on a glorious journey to embrace nuclear energy have come to a halt as staunch resistance has been faced by residents and non-government groups with regards to safety of these nuclear plants. This has lowered the cumulative uranium demand which in terms of demand and supply theory can be expressed as highlighted …show more content…

The justification of the uranium price by the current demand and supply was apparent when the news of few reactors opening in Japan did little to provide an upward momentum to uranium prices. This is because, the nuclear reactors situated in Japan already have uranium stocks which are expected to serve them for many years and hence any additional demand is not likely (Cormack, 2014). Also, with the other developed world making a policy shift away from nuclear energy, it is difficult that any significant uranium demand would emerge from any of these nations. The only exception is in the form of Russia which still is embracing nuclear energy but it does not add to the international demand as it is bestowed with rich uranium deposits both at home and neighbouring nations (Green,