What’s Next for Uranium After the Big Price Surge
Bob Brackett on uranium, lithium, gold, silver, oil, and more.
Barrels stored at the Energy Fuels White Mesa Mill uranium production facility in Blanding, Utah, US.
Photographer: Kim Raff/BloombergThere's something of a uranium cult out there: the investors and traders who believe that nuclear is the future of energy, and therefore this crucial commodity will end up being a huge winner. And over the last several years, the price has gone up substantially. But what are the economics of the uranium market? And how sensitive is it to some of these power plants that are reopening? On this episode, we speak with commodities guru Bob Brackett, head of Americas energy and transition at Bernstein Research. Bob knows everything about just about every commodity under the sun, so in addition to talking uranium, we get an update on lithium, gold, silver, oil, and more. This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
Key insights from the pod:
Bob Brackett’s background in commodities — 4:07
What is uranium? — 4:52
The supply of uranium — 7:30
The size of the uranium market — 7:58
Recent price action in uranium — 10:11
Who are the players in the uranium market? — 12:08
How is uranium stored? — 14:39
Where uranium demand comes from — 15:18
Levelized cost of energy (LCOE) — 18:51
The future of green energy — 21:09
The price plunge in lithium — 23:10
Why gold can go up more — 26:48
The surge in silver prices — 29:59
The outlook for oil prices — 32:18
How lithium brining works — 36:00
Uranium supply and nuclear weapons decommissioning — 39:26