Doug Casey: Glowing Prospects for Uranium
On September 22, 2011, Karen Roche and JT Long of The Energy Report interviewed renowned speculator and financial author Doug Casey on his views about uranium. Read here why Doug thinks despite the recent bad press, “yellowcake” has a bright future.
The Western world’s skittishness, skepticism and staunch opposition when in comes to nuclear energy won’t stand in the way of its production elsewhere in the world. It will be full steam ahead in China, India and other developing nations, says Casey Research Chairman Doug Casey, and the Western world is tiny in comparison. In fact, “I’d say uranium is a great place to be for at least the next generation,” he tells us in this Energy Report exclusive. With ever-advancing technology enabling economic recovery in places where it previously wasn’t possible, he’s also optimistic about natural gas and oil. Continue reading
Germany- a Nuclear Power Trendsetter?
By Marin Katusa, Casey Energy Opportunities
In a dramatic about-face, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced last Monday that Germany will phase out nuclear power completely by 2022, shutting down its nine operational reactors and never restarting the seven reactors that were suspended in the wake of the nuclear disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi plant.
Germany has struggled with a conflicted yet essential relationship with nuclear power from the start. West Germany built its first nuclear power plant in 1960; since then, the country has come to rely on nuclear reactors for more than 20% of its power needs. But the industry’s growth has not come without opposition. A 1975 fire at the Lubmin plant on the Baltic Coast almost caused a core meltdown. A few years later, the Green Party formed and quickly became a nationwide political force based on their “Atomkraft? Nein, Danke” (Nuclear Power? No Thanks) slogan.
For the next 20 years, the country battled with nuclear waste, first transporting it to medium-term storage facilities because of protests against building a national waste processing facility, then shipping it to facilities in France and Britain. In the early 2000s, protestors regularly blocked waste transports, creating a tension-filled period that culminated in the death of an anti-nuclear activist.
In this context, the coalition government committed to phasing out nuclear power by the mid-2020s. But six years later, in 2006, Chancellor Merkel said it would be a mistake for Germany to turn off its nuclear power plants. Four years later, she strengthened that stance with a plan to run the country’s nuclear plants for an additional 12 years, until 2033. That law passed in the country’s lower house in October 2010. Continue reading
