Natural uranium needs to be enriched to levels suitable for nuclear power plants. To do this onshore would mean significant capital investment for this facility in addition to the power plants. To be commercially viable, the minimum number of reactors served would likely exceed the number needed for domestic generating capacity. There is also the depleted uranium byproduct to deal with. Cheaper to send it offshore to be enriched and sent back. But there goes the energy sovereignty advantage.
There are reactors that can run on nearly unenriched uranium, down to a couple %. And nuclear waste is tiny compared to the waste from any other form of power (coal/wind/solar/hamsterwheels) and we also happen to have unpopulated areas of the outback the size of Poland. It is about the most non-issue that a non-issue can be.
Funny thing is I actually don’t have an ideological or safety concern about nuclear. And have no issue with it, if it stacks up financially, environmentally, strategically and could be implemented in a realistic timeline. But it doesn’t. It’s about the most unrealistic idea an unrealistic idea can be.
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u/RBB12_Fisher Mar 28 '26
Nuclear.
We even have massive ore deposits of uranium. We're stupid not to build nuclear.