World Nuclear Generation of Electricity
Highlights: There were 441 commercial nuclear reactors reported in December 2001. About 25 percent of these reactors are located in the United States. In February 2002, China announced that Ling' ao 1 has begun generating power (bringing the total to 442 reactors).
China Feature: "No other country in Asia (or anywhere else on the planet) is expected to grow as fast as China" according to a feature prepared by the Energy Information Administration on the Chinese Nuclear Industry. The feature has an interactive map, provides an historical chronology of the development of commercial nuclear power in China, summarizes current nuclear situation, and projects future nuclear trends.
Data on international nuclear is reported by the Energy Information Administration
in the International Energy Annual. The data, appearing in table
27 , provides generation by country from
1991 through 2000.
 Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), reproduced with permission. Data on international nuclear trends is available on-line from IAEA . |
Data on shares of electricity market supplied by nuclear for each country and on international trends is also available at: ftp://ftp.eia.doe.gov/pub/pdf/international/0484(2002).pdf . Those who wish to scan the highlights of this report may try: http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/index.html.
The number of nuclear generating units (reactors) and the total commercial nuclear generating gross capacity for each country in 2001 is as follows:
Argentina (2 units, 1005 MWe)
Armenia (1 unit, 408 MWe)
Belgium (7 units, 5,824 MWe)
Brazil (2 units, 1,966 MWe)
Bulgaria (6 units, 3,760 MWe)
Canada, (21 units, 15,795 MWe)
China (3 units, 2,268 MWe)
Czech Republic (4 units, 1,760 MWe)
Finland (4 units, 2,400 MWe)
France (57 units, 62,466 MWe)
Germany (19 units, 21,931 MWe)
Hungary (4 units, 1,840 MWe)
India (14 units, 3,180 MWe)
Japan (53 units, 45,907 MWe)
Lithuania (2 units, 3,000 MWe)
Mexico (2 units, 1,350 MWe)
Netherlands (1 unit, 481 MWe)
Pakistan (2 units, 462 MWe)
Romania (1 unit, 708 MWe)
Russia (30 units, 22,316 MWe)
Slovak Republic (6 units, 2,580 MWe)
Slovenia (1 unit, 664 MWe)
South Africa (2 units, 1,930 MWe)
South Korea (16 units, 13,716 MWe)
Spain (9 units, 7,400 MWe)
Sweden (11 units, 9,819 MWe)
Switzerland (5 units, 3,200 MWe)
Taiwan (6 units, 5,146 MWe)
Ukraine (13 units, 11,880 MWe)
United Kingdom (33 units, 14,620 MWe)
United States of America (104 units, 102,162 MWe)
The Summer of Discontent: Europe’s Killer Heat WaveThe deadliest heat wave in modern memory severely strained electric power industries throughout Europe. The International Herald Tribune noted that Denmark and Germany, countries that have heavily invested in wind turbines, found the wind didn’t always blow when it was most needed. Several years ago, the German Government had pledged to rapidly phase out the nation’s large nuclear power industry. Regardless of the future of nuclear power, the delays in implementing that policy appear to have been fortuitous in August 2003. In 2003, the Energy Information Administration published new country analysis briefs on the energy industries of Germany (September), France (April), and northern central Europe (in May).
Other Websites with Useful Information
World Nuclear Association, London
Electricitie de France
(EDF) ranks first among the world's utilities in nuclear capacity.
France, itself, ranks second only to the United States in total commercial
nuclear capacity. EDF owns and operates the largest commercial nuclear
generating units ever built. The EDF homepage is now available in English.
Contact:
John Moens: jmoens@eia.doe.gov