One of the world’s largest uranium producers is finding friends in high — and unlikely — places for stellar third quarter results.Saskatoon-based Cameco Corp. is crediting high-profile endorsements from the likes of Irish rock star Bono for changing perceptions of nuclear power and how it can benefit efforts to fight climate change.On a conference call with financial analysts, CEO Tim Gitzel said a changing “social conversation” over the role of nuclear in the world’s energy mix has resulted in a noticeable shift in public perception over the once maligned fuel — especially among celebrities such as Bono who has long been known for advocating social causes like climate change.."Longtime nuclear protesters, like Bono of U2, just last month admitted that although he has campaigned against nuclear energy for a long time, his view has flipped to support nuclear amid the climate crisis," Gitzel said on the call. "We're seeing a social shift happening like never before."In the 1990s, Bono was a vocal critic of nuclear power, joining Greenpeace at anti-nuke demonstrations in Europe. In 2002, he and his wife Ali were vocal proponents of shutting down nuclear power plants in Ireland.It was further strengthened after the Fukushima disaster following the Japanese earthquake in 2011.But ahead of U2‘s Las Vegas residency last month, Bono told Apple Music he’s had a change of heart and sees nuclear fusion as the answer to climate change.“But now all the fear and dread in the atom and using it as a weapon of mass destruction, they may be clues for how we get out of the climate crisis. Fusion rather than Fission. Fission which is regular nuclear energy is getting safer and smarter and we’ve campaigned against nuclear energy but we have kind of turned around a little bit on that one,” he said.Meanwhile, countries around the globe are scrambling to build new nuclear power plants as fast as they can in order to meet net-zero targets by 2050 under the Paris Accord. The International Energy Agency (IEA) says global nuclear capacity needs to double from 2020 to meet that goal..Consequently, Cameco reported a third quarter profit of $148 million on Tuesday, compared to a loss of $20 million in the same period of last year. The company also increased its full-year guidance by $500 million to between $2.43 billion and $2.58 billion, sending its shares to a new 52-week high.After gaining 10% on the news, the company’s Toronto-listed shares were trading at $56.60 on Wednesday morning and are up more than 80% this year.
One of the world’s largest uranium producers is finding friends in high — and unlikely — places for stellar third quarter results.Saskatoon-based Cameco Corp. is crediting high-profile endorsements from the likes of Irish rock star Bono for changing perceptions of nuclear power and how it can benefit efforts to fight climate change.On a conference call with financial analysts, CEO Tim Gitzel said a changing “social conversation” over the role of nuclear in the world’s energy mix has resulted in a noticeable shift in public perception over the once maligned fuel — especially among celebrities such as Bono who has long been known for advocating social causes like climate change.."Longtime nuclear protesters, like Bono of U2, just last month admitted that although he has campaigned against nuclear energy for a long time, his view has flipped to support nuclear amid the climate crisis," Gitzel said on the call. "We're seeing a social shift happening like never before."In the 1990s, Bono was a vocal critic of nuclear power, joining Greenpeace at anti-nuke demonstrations in Europe. In 2002, he and his wife Ali were vocal proponents of shutting down nuclear power plants in Ireland.It was further strengthened after the Fukushima disaster following the Japanese earthquake in 2011.But ahead of U2‘s Las Vegas residency last month, Bono told Apple Music he’s had a change of heart and sees nuclear fusion as the answer to climate change.“But now all the fear and dread in the atom and using it as a weapon of mass destruction, they may be clues for how we get out of the climate crisis. Fusion rather than Fission. Fission which is regular nuclear energy is getting safer and smarter and we’ve campaigned against nuclear energy but we have kind of turned around a little bit on that one,” he said.Meanwhile, countries around the globe are scrambling to build new nuclear power plants as fast as they can in order to meet net-zero targets by 2050 under the Paris Accord. The International Energy Agency (IEA) says global nuclear capacity needs to double from 2020 to meet that goal..Consequently, Cameco reported a third quarter profit of $148 million on Tuesday, compared to a loss of $20 million in the same period of last year. The company also increased its full-year guidance by $500 million to between $2.43 billion and $2.58 billion, sending its shares to a new 52-week high.After gaining 10% on the news, the company’s Toronto-listed shares were trading at $56.60 on Wednesday morning and are up more than 80% this year.
