Utilities still have shareholder obligations to minimize fuel costs and will enter into the best commercially favorable contracts available, but they are not in a bidding war and are taking time to contract because they do not want to overpay.

China's nuclear power production is expected to grow from 16% of the world's total to over 20% by 2030, with India almost doubling their nuclear capacity over the same period, driven largely by emerging market demand rather than developed markets.

Nuclear reactors can be extended beyond their original design life (e.g., 40 years) to operate for 70-80 years or longer if properly maintained, making operational extension economically attractive compared to decommissioning.

Nuclear power generation is a heavily regulated industry with technological complexity and sophistication that requires significant government intervention and control, unlike simpler energy sources like solar that can be deployed unilaterally by private actors.

Small modular reactors are currently very expensive, but if they achieve mainstream scale and adoption, costs will decline due to manufacturing experience and standardization, similar to how other technologies achieve cost reduction at scale.

In developed markets such as the UK and Scandinavia, building new nuclear power plants is significantly more expensive than solar and wind, making nuclear uncompetitive on cost despite superior reliability characteristics.

Lithium mining had easy ready-to-access supply from major producers (IGO, PLS, MinRes) in Western Australia (75% of global spodumene production), allowing rapid ramp-up that created supply surplus; uranium lacks equivalent easy-access supply to meet demand surge.

NextGen Resources' Canadian uranium assets (pristine wilderness location) represent the major new greenfield uranium supply expected from 2030 onward, but permitting in pristine Canadian wilderness may face significant challenges and delays.

Most of the initial costs of nuclear power are upfront capital expenditure for plant construction, not fuel costs, which means fuel price increases have minimal impact on the decision to run a nuclear plant at full capacity, unlike fossil fuels where fuel costs drive marginal operating decisions.

Emerging markets can produce nuclear power much more cheaply than developed markets, making it a cost-effective path for emission reduction targets.

Earlier in the 2010s, developed countries pursued policies to reduce or exit nuclear capacity due to political pressure around safety concerns, but over the last couple of years this trend has reversed as decarbonization and power generation requirements make nuclear reduction targets unlikely to materialize.

Over the next 5 years, new uranium supply will come from project restarts from care and maintenance (e.g., Paladin's Langer Heinrich in Namibia) and capacity ramps of existing projects (e.g., Cameco and Kazatomprom projects), with approximately 20% supply growth expected.