I was reading an article in Fortune entitled, "Why the Price of Uranium Has Gone Radioactive." The article discusses how uranium prices have gone sky-high recently. The main reason for the price hikes has been the revival of the nuclear power trend, particularly in countries like Russia and China. It appears that people are getting over their Three Mile Island and Chernobyl fears, although I can't say I share this sentiment. The jolt in nuclear power's popularity has led to hedge funds and other investors to dive "into the thinly traded uranium market." Eight million pounds of uranium have been purchased by investors this year alone. According to the article, the price of uranium has risen from $7.00 per pound six years ago, to $60.00 per pound today. This price could rise even further.

After reading this, I started wondering how this price point will affect nuclear power. What is deemed by many as the solution to global warming, may not be sustainable if these prices continue to rise. After all, if many nuclear reactors in the construction phase are going over-budget already, how can they be built and operated cost-effectively with the volatile uranium market? It sounds to me like the main thing that might cause a fall in uranium prices, would be another Three Mile Island or Chernobyl incident, which would cause nuclear power to once again fall out of favor. It seems kind of ironic that what is causing the hike in uranium prices--i.e. the intense interest in nuclear power plants--may be what ends up making them cost-prohibitive. I guess that's how the market works. After thinking about the government subsidy issue yesterday, I pondered how the free market is extremely unstable as well. What's in vogue today, may be over tomorrow. If we want to avoid global warming and nuclear power is the supposed solution to that, then what are we going to do when it becomes too costly to use nuclear power? Our world leaders need to really reflect on the climate change issue and consider the cost of generating power from nuclear plants or alternative energy sources. Although government subsidies of green power may be flawed, free market control over the nuclear industry doesn't sound too secure either.