Until last Friday, Japan has the 3rd most nuclear reactors in operation at 53 behind only France (59) and the U.S. (100+). However, in the wake of the massive earthquake and tsunami many of those power plants are offline and the fear of a nuclear disaster is running high. The stocks of uranium miners such as Cameco plunged this morning as this is seen as a major setback for the advancement of nuclear power. This could be an initial over reaction as the Uranium ETF (URA) which contains the 23 leading companies in the sector is down almost 20%. However, even if today’s market action is an over reaction there is little doubt that this will cause people to stop and re-evaluate the nuclear option.

Nuclear power has been heralded as the solution for all the Chinese pollution and as a way to rapidly expand that nation’s power supply. But as we watch people (especially children) being screened for radiation poisoning there is little doubt that this is another reality check for the industry. Just as 3 Mile Island scared a generation of Americans and Chernobyl scared a generation of Europeans this will undoubtedly have the same effect on the Asian community.

When push comes to shove people will always make the safe choice which today appears to be coal and natural gas as the coal etf – KOL and the natural gas etf – UNG are two of just a few things in the plus column today.

There is little doubt that there will need to be more nuclear power in the future to meet that fast growing demand for energy, but this will definitely cause a major slow down in progress for 2011 and maybe the next couple years.