Could this tiny development add even more fuel to ASX uranium shares?

ASX uranium shares are booming today.

It’s a decent day for the markets overall, with the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) posting a nice rebound following yesterday’s sell-off, up 0.5% as we head into the lunch hour.

ASX energy shares are doing even better, as witnessed by the 1.6% intraday gain on the S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ).

But ASX uranium shares are leaving those gains far behind.

Here’s how some of the top stocks in the sector are tracking at the time of writing:

• Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE) shares are up 6.7%
• Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) shares are up 7.8%
• Bannerman Energy Ltd (ASX: BMN) shares are up 23.1%
• Deep Yellow Limited (ASX: DYL) shares are up 14.7%
• Alligator Energy Ltd (ASX: AGE) shares are up 21.1%

What’s driving investor interest in ASX uranium shares?

Investors have been considering the likely growth in demand for uranium, following decades when the radioactive energy source was out of favour.

With the world looking to rapidly slash carbon emissions – and coming to the realisation that renewables are unlikely to fully fill the void left by coal, gas and oil – nations across the globe are turning their attention back to a nuclear-powered future.

Last week, Japan’s government announced its intention to ramp up the nation’s nuclear power generation. Japan plans to reopen seven currently shuttered plants and is looking to develop new generation nuclear power plants. That news saw ASX uranium shares charging higher.

But it’s not just Japan.

While the nuclear conversation is ongoing in Australia, Belgium and Germany are both looking at extending the lives of their nuclear plants amid a crushing energy shortage exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, France revealed it intends to build 14 new nuclear plants later this decade. And India is also looking at expanding its nuclear power capacity. Nuclear energy is currently the fifth largest source of electricity in the world’s second most populous nation.

And when it comes to driving interest in ASX uranium shares, let’s not forget Elon Musk.

On Saturday the world’s richest man tweeted, “Countries should be increasing nuclear power generation! It is insane from a national security standpoint & bad for the environment to shut them down.”

Could this tiny development offer further tailwinds?

With plenty of tailwinds already behind them, ASX uranium shares could be getting an extra boost from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

On 29 July the NRC gave the green light (with a few formalities pending) to a tiny modular nuclear reactor designed by Oregon based NuScale.

As Popular Mechanics reports, this is only the seventh reactor design to ever be approved within the US and the first modular one. The reactor is about the size of two city buses, tiny compared to conventional plants.

According to Diane Hughes, vice president of marketing and communications for NuScale:

Especially while the global community is suffering from crises like volatile energy prices and climate-driven extreme weather events, the need for carbon-free energy solutions like NuScale’s small modular reactors has never been greater…

Potential customers from numerous countries have expressed interest in our technology, and we currently have 18 signed and active memorandums of understanding with customers in 11 countries interested in, and considering, a deployment of a NuScale power plant.

With that kind of growth in interest, ASX uranium shares could see a sustained, long-term boost in the demand for their product.

How have these ASX uranium shares been tracking?

We looked at today’s price action above.

Here’s how these top ASX uranium shares have performed over the past 12 months compared to the 7% loss posted by the All Ordinaries.

• Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE) shares gained 1,365%*
• Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) shares gained 60%
• Bannerman Energy Ltd (ASX: BMN) shares gained 48%
• Deep Yellow Limited (ASX: DYL) shares gained 47%
• Alligator Energy Ltd (ASX: AGE) shares gained 123%

(*Note, ASX uranium share Boss Energy underwent a share consolidation on 29 November. This saw the number of shares reduced by a factor of eight. The actual share price increase for Boss Energy is 85% over 12 months.)

The post Could this tiny development add even more fuel to ASX uranium shares? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

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• Paladin share price slips despite 57% revenue boost
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Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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