Nuclear power by country

Nuclear power plants currently operate in 30 countries.[2] Most are in Europe, North America, East Asia and South Asia. The United States is the largest producer of nuclear power, while France has the largest share of electricity generated by nuclear power. Due to an existing policy based on energy security, France obtains about 75% of its electricity from nuclear energy.[3] A newly implemented policy mandates that the country will shift to receive 50% of its electricity from nuclear by 2035. In 2010, before the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, it was reported that an average of about 10 nuclear reactors were expected to become operational per year, although according to the World Nuclear Association, of the 17 civilian reactors planned to become operational between 2007 and 2009, only five actually came on stream.[4] Global nuclear electricity generation in 2012 was at its lowest level since 1999.[5][6]

The Cattenom Nuclear Power Plant in France. France produces around three quarters of its electricity by nuclear power.[1]

China has the fastest growing nuclear power program with 11 new reactors under construction,[7] and a considerable number of new reactors are also being built in India, Russia and South Korea. At the same time, at least 100 older and smaller reactors will "most probably be closed over the next 10–15 years".[4] Pakistan plans on constructing three to four nuclear power plants by 2030.[8]

Additionally, Slovenia is leading the world in utilizing nuclear power to reverse climate change.[9] Officials announced they will be carbon neutral by 2050 by reducing their use of fossil fuels, relying on renewable energy, and utilizing sustainable transport, housing, and industry options. Slovenian officials announced they would decide by 2027 whether to build a new nuclear plant[10] to meet the increasing demand for power without using fossil fuels.

Some countries operated nuclear reactors in the past but have currently no operating nuclear plants. Among them, Italy closed all of its nuclear stations by 1990 and nuclear power has since been discontinued because of the 1987 referendums on which Italians voted. Kazakhstan and Armenia are planning to reintroduce nuclear power in the future. Belarus has its first nuclear power plant under construction and plans to have it operating by the end of 2020. The project is financed by Russia.[11]

Several countries are currently operating nuclear power plants but are planning a nuclear power phase-out. These are Belgium, Germany, Spain, and Switzerland. Other countries, like Netherlands, Sweden, and Taiwan are also considering a phase-out. Austria and the Philippines never started to use their first nuclear plants that were completely built.

Due to financial, political and technical reasons, Cuba, Libya, North Korea, and Poland never completed the construction of their first nuclear plants, and Australia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ghana, Ireland, Kuwait, Oman, Peru, Singapore, and Venezuela never built their planned first nuclear plants.[12][13] As of 2020 Poland is in advanced planning phase for 1.5 GWe and plans to have up to 9 GWe by 2040.[14]

Overview

Nations based on nuclear output as a percentage of national power output.
Timeline of commissioned and decommissioned nuclear capacity since the 1950s.[15] Positive numbers show the commissioned capacity for each year; negative numbers show the decommissioned capacity for each year.
Global status of nuclear deployment as of June 2020 (source: see file description)
  Operating reactors, building new reactors
  Operating reactors, planning new build
  No reactors, building new reactors
  No reactors, planning new build
  Operating reactors, stable
  Operating reactors, considering phase-out
  Civil nuclear power is illegal
  No reactors
Nuclear power plants in Europe

Of the 31 countries in which nuclear power plants operate, only France, Slovakia, Ukraine, and Hungary use them as the source for a majority of the country's electricity supply as of 2019. Other countries have significant amounts of nuclear power generation capacity.[2] By far the largest nuclear electricity producers are the United States with 809,359 GWh of nuclear electricity in 2019, followed by France with 382,403 GWh.[2] As of December 2019, 455 reactors with a net capacity of 392,779 MWe are operational, and 54 reactors with net capacity of 57,441 MWe are under construction. Of the reactors under construction, 11 reactors with 10,564 MWe are in China and 7 reactors with a capacity of 4,824 MWe are in India.[16]

Nuclear power by country in 2019[2]
Country Reactors Capacity
Net-total (MWe)
Generated
electricity (GWh)
Share of total
electricity use
Notes
operational U/C
 Argentina 3 1 1,641 7,927 5.9%
 Armenia 1 0 375 2,029 27.8%
 Bangladesh 0 2 N/A N/A N/A
 Belarus 0 2 N/A N/A N/A
 Belgium 7 0 5,930 41,422 47.6% Phase-out planned
 Brazil 2 1 1,884 15,224 2.7%
 Bulgaria 2 0 2,006 15,869 37.5%
 Canada 19 0 13,554 94,854 14.9%
 China 49 10 46,520 330,122 4.9%
 Czech Republic 6 0 3,932 28,581 35.2%
 Finland 4 1 2,794 22,915 34.7%
 France 56 1 61,370 382,403 70.6%
 Germany 6 0 8,113 71,866 10.1% 2022 Phase-out, 2018 data
 Hungary 4 0 1,902 15,415 49.2%
 India 22 7 6,255 40,740 3.2%
 Iran 1 1 915 5,866 1.8%
 Japan 33 2 31,680 65,682 7.5% Many reactors currently stopped
 South Korea 24 4 23,172 138,809 26.2%
 Mexico 2 0 1,552 10,881 4.5%
 Netherlands 1 0 482 3,701 3.2%
 Pakistan 5 2 1,318 9,066 6.6%
 Romania 2 0 1,300 10,368 18.5%
 Russia 38 4 28,437 195,535 19.7%
 Slovakia 4 2 1,814 14,282 53.9%
 Slovenia[17] 1 0 688 5,533 37.0%
 South Africa 2 0 1,860 13,603 6.7%
 Spain 7 0 7,121 55,856 21.4%
 Sweden 7 0 7,740 64,429 34.0%
 Switzerland 4 0 2,960 25,370 23.9% Gradual Phase-out planned
 Taiwan 4 2 3,844 31,147 13.4%
 Turkey 0 2 N/A N/A N/A
 Ukraine 15 2 13,107 78,144 53.9%
 United Arab Emirates 1 3 1,345 N/A N/A
 United Kingdom 15 2 8,923 51,032 15.6%
 United States 95 2 97,150 809,359 19.7%
World total 455 54 392,779 2,586,000

See also

References

  1. "World Nuclear Power Reactors & Uranium Requirements". World Nuclear Association. 1 October 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  2. "Nuclear Share of Electricity Generation in 2019". IAEA. 27 June 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  3. "Nuclear Power in France | French Nuclear Energy - World Nuclear Association". www.world-nuclear.org. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  4. Michael Dittmar. Taking stock of nuclear renaissance that never was Sydney Morning Herald, 18 August 2010.
  5. WNA (20 June 2013). "Nuclear power down in 2012". World Nuclear News.
  6. "The Nuclear Renaissance".
  7. "China Nuclear Power - Chinese Nuclear Energy".
  8. "Pakistan plans to build several new nuclear reactors - official". www.reuters.com. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  9. Reuters Staff (14 January 2020). "Slovenia latest nation to seek carbon neutrality by 2050". Reuters. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  10. "Slovenian decision on second unit by 2027: minister : Nuclear Policies - World Nuclear News". world-nuclear-news.org. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  11. World Nuclear Association. Nuclear Power in Belarus World Nuclear Association, May 2020.
  12. Duroyan Fertl (5 June 2011). "Germany: Nuclear power to be phased out by 2022". Green Left.
  13. James Kanter (25 May 2011). "Switzerland Decides on Nuclear Phase-Out". New York Times.
  14. Wilczek, Maria (16 June 2020). "Construction of Poland's first nuclear power plant to begin in 2026". Notes From Poland. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  15. "Operational & Long-Term Shutdown Reactors". IAEA. 13 April 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  16. Nuclear Power Reactors in the World (PDF). Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency. 2020. ISBN 978-92-0-101418-4.
  17. https://www.nek.si/en/about-nek/production

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