The way that the journalist has written the article, using both...

The way that the journalist has written the article, using both quotes and unquoted "he said" sections, leaves a lot of ambiguity as to what the ANU professor actually said.

The article is potentially using 'he said' without quotations, and then in a new sentence, expresses other bold unreferenced statements, not indicating whether it is still what the professor said, or whether it is now back to being the journalist's opinion.

In my opinion, the author could easily be deliberately misrepresenting the professor's views.

Regardless, with global warming in mind, it is not just what is most profitable that matters, it is what is most environmentally sustainable that matters, which in turn drives profits. If we have to pay for recycling batteries like we have to pay for storing waste under heavily regulated conditions, then it stands to reason that the future economics may easily swing back towards nuclear, given the incredibly small (relatively) amount of waste.