The Financial Post reports in its Thursday edition that share prices of uranium miners, like Cameco and Denison Mines, spiked Wednesday as Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the nation would restart idled nuclear plants and focus on developing next-generation reactors to tackle soaring energy costs. The Post's Naimul Karim writes that Scotiabank's Orest Wowkodaw said in a note that he expects Japan's potential return to nuclear power to be a "positive development" for the uranium market. The comments from Japan's prime minister come more than a decade after a massive earthquake triggered a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. The country has kept most of its nuclear plants idle ever since. But a rise in energy costs, along with nuclear being touted as a way to help the world transition away from fossil fuels, could lead to a change in Japan's policies. Currently, seven of Japan's nearly 50 reactor units are in operation, Mr. Wowkodaw said in the note. He expects 21 units to restart by 2030, which would represent 5 per cent of the global nuclear capacity. Uranium prices have dropped 24 per cent from their highs in April 2022, but are still almost 50 per cent higher than a year ago.