Australia’s Uranium Policies Working Against Clean Energy Future

Energy Investing

Some believe the recent uranium mining ban in Queensland and mixed feelings towards the nuclear industry in South Australia are working against Australia’s energy potential. Toro Energy’s managing director, Dr. Vanessa Guthrie, addressed the matter last week at the Paydirt 2015 South Australian Resources and Energy Investment Conference

The Australian government has been active in addressing climate change issues and has been working towards reducing its carbon footprint since releasing a climate change plan titled “Clean Energy Future” in 2011. However, some believe the recent uranium mining ban in Queensland and mixed feelings towards the nuclear industry in South Australia are working against Australia’s energy potential. 

Toro Energy’s (ASX:TOE) managing director, Dr. Vanessa Guthrie, addressed the matter last week at the Paydirt 2015 South Australian Resources and Energy Investment Conference, with the details outlined in a company press release.

Guthrie, who is a director of the Minerals Council of Australia and was appointed to the critical India-Australia CEO Forum by the prime minister, said that the policy confusion has constrained Australia’s underdeveloped uranium industry and called the recent changes confusing.

She said that while Australia has a strong production history, with three mines currently operating, policy confusion between states has “choked the impetus to optimize Australia’s position as a safe, low risk, long-term and reliable uranium supplier to a global nuclear energy market increasingly hungry for yellowcake supply.”

Mixed emotions between Australian states

Looking at what’s happened in recent years, its clear her concerns aren’t misplaced. Queensland reinstated its uranium mining ban last month only three years after it was lifted. Conversely, Western Australia lifted its ban in 2008, which has proven to be a good move, as AU$300 million has since been invested in uranium exploration in the state and there are now four advanced projects in the area. New South Wales may be the most confusing of all the Australian states, as it allows for uranium exploration, but hasn’t given the green light for mining.

South Australia is still on the fence, but is taking steps in the right direction with the initiation of a royal commission into the nuclear fuel cycle. Still, it likely won’t be making any decisions on the matter until its “self-imposed” deadline of May 6, 2016 comes up. The commission, which is headed by former South Australian governor Kevin Scarce, has an advisory panel made up of five experts who are both for and against the nuclear industry. It just outlined its plan to visit Finland, Japan and the United Kingdom to “assess how the industry operates.” It will also look at Vienna, Austria to “closely examine the approach taken by world regulatory bodies.”

Guthrie said she “acknowledge[s] the highly welcome decision this year by the SA Government to initiate a Royal Commission into the nuclear fuel cycle and associated new industry opportunities,” and added that “[t]his is the sort of forward, pragmatic thinking the uranium industry needs in Australia if we are to deliver expectations of billion dollar plus a year uranium exports before the next decade.”

Nuclear energy = clean energy

Guthrie cited the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change’s (IPCC) latest position on nuclear energy in her talk at the conference to add further insight into the global need for nuclear energy. The IPCC was formed back in 1988 and has since published five climate change assessment reports. In the most recent report, titled “Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change,” nuclear energy is recognized as a mature, low-greenhouse-gas emission source of baseload power, but it’s also noted that its share of global electricity generation has been declining since 1993.

“In recent years, the share of nuclear energy in world power generation has declined. Nuclear electricity represented 11 percent of the world’s electricity generation in 2012, down from a high of 17 percent in 1993; its contribution to global TPES (total primary energy supply) is declining since 2002. Those trends were formed well before the incident at the Fukushima nuclear plants in March 2011 and following revision of policies towards nuclear power by several governments (IEA, 2012e). Growing nuclear contribution to TPES after 2000 was observed only in EIT and Asia (mostly in Russia and China),” the report states.

Considering these numbers, it is evident that Guthrie’s position towards the need for new uranium supply is not coming out of left field.

What’s next for Toro?

Toro Energy recently passed a significant milestone when the environmental scoping document for its Wiluna project extension was approved by the Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority. The approval further advances the company’s plans for extending Wiluna, which will be the fourth operating mine in Australia and the first in the state once in production. The project has a mine life of at least 25 years and is believed to contain 76.5 million pounds of U3O8.

Other operating uranium mines in the country include Energy Resources of Australia’s (ASX:ERA) Ranger mine in Northern Territory, Alliance Resources’ (ASX:AGS) Four Mile project in South Australia and BHP Billiton’s (ASX:BHP,LSE:BLT,NYSE:BHP) Olympic Dam project, also located in South Australia.

Also on the road to production status is Cameco’s (TSX:COO,NYSE:CCJ) Kintyre, which recently received environmental approval from Western Australian Environment Minister Albert Jacob. Approval is still required from federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt.

 

Securities Disclosure: I, Kristen Moran, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Editorial Disclosure: Toro Energy is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content. 

Related reading:

Queensland’s Uranium Ban a Plus for Other Australian States

Uranium Mining on the Rocks in Queensland

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