Nuclear Power Markets

Worldwide
~ Nuclear Power (NP)´s prominence as a major energy source will continue over the next several decades /IEAE/
~ the low projection assumes that all nuclear capacity that is currently under construction or firmly in the development pipeline gets completed
~ and attached to the grid, but no other capacity is added
~ in this, there would be growth in capacity from 370 GW(e) at the end of 2006 to 447 GW(e) in 2030 (a gigawatt = 1000 megawatts = 1 billion watts)
~ in the high projection global nuclear capacity estimated to rise to 679 GW(e) in 2030
~ that would be an average growth rate of about 2.5%/yr
~ NP power´s share of worldwide electricity production rose from less than 1 percent in 1960 to 16 percent in 1986
~ that percentage has held essentially constant in the 21 years since 1986
~ nuclear electricity generation has grown steadily at the same pace as overall global electricity generation
~ at the close of 2006, nuclear provided about 15 percent of total electricity worldwide
~ there were 435 operating nuclear reactors around the world, and 29 more were under construction
~ the US had the most with 103 operating units
~ France was next with 59
~ Japan followed with 55, plus one more under construction
~ Russia had 31 operating, and seven more under construction
~ Of the 30 countries with nuclear power, the percentage of electricity supplied by nuclear ranged widely:
~ from a high of 78 percent in France; to 54 percent in Belgium; 39 percent in Republic of Korea;
~ 37 percent in Switzerland; 30 percent in Japan; 19 percent in the USA; 16 percent in Russia;
~ 4 percent in South Africa; and 2 percent in China

Asia
~ present nuclear power plant expansion is centred in Asia:
~ 15 of the 29 units under construction at the end of 2006 were in Asia
~ 26 of the last 36 reactors to have been connected to the grid were in Asia
~ India gets less than 3% of its electricity from nuclear, but at the end of 2006 it had one-quarter of the nuclear construction
~ - 7 of the world´s 29 reactors that were under construction
~ India´s plans are impressive: an 8-fold increase by 2022 to 10 percent of the electricity supply and a 75-fold increase by 2052 to reach 26 percent of the electricity supply
~ a 75-fold increase works out to an average of 9.4 percent/yr, about the same as average global nuclear growth from 1970 through 2004

~ China experiencing huge energy growth and is trying to expand every source it can, including nuclear power
~ It has four reactors under construction and plans a nearly five-fold expansion by just 2020
~ because China is growing so fast this would still amount to only 4 percent of total electricity

Russia
~ Russia had 31 operating reactors, five under construction and significant expansion plans
~ there´s a lot of discussion in Russia of becoming a full fuel-service provider,
~ including services like leasing fuel, reprocessing spent fuel for countries that are interested, and even leasing reactors

Japan
~ Japan had 55 reactors in operation, one under construction, and
~ plans to increase nuclear power´s share of electricity from 30 percent in 2006 to more than 40 percent within the next decade

South Korea
~ South Korea connected its 20th reactor just last year,
~ has another under construction and has broken ground to start building two more
~ NP already supplies 39 percent of its electricity

Europe
~ Europe had 166 reactors in operation and six under construction
~ there are several nuclear prohibition countries like Austria, Italy, Denmark and Ireland
~ there are nuclear phase-out countries like Germany and Belgium
~ there are nuclear expansion programmes in Finland, France, Bulgaria and Ukraine
~ Finland started construction in 2005 on Olkiluoto-3, which is the first new Western European construction since 1991
~ France plans to start its next plant in 2007
~ several countries with nuclear power are still pondering future plans
~ The UK, with 19 operating plants, many of which are relatively old, had been the most uncertain until recently
~ a final policy decision on nuclear power will await the results of a public consultation now underway

United States
~ The US had 103 reactors providing 19 percent of the country´s electricity
~ for the last few decades the main developments have been improved capacity factors,
~ power increases at existing plants and license renewals
~ currently 48 reactors have already received 20-year renewals, so their licensed lifetimes are 60 years
~ altogether three-quarters of the US reactors either already have license renewals,
~ have applied for them, or have stated their intention to apply
~ there have been a lot of announced intentions (about 30 new reactors´ worth) and
~ the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is now reviewing four Early Site Permit applications