Nuclear Energy - International Production

According to the Annual Energy Review 2003, in 2002 nuclear power provided about 17% of the world's electricity and 6.6% of total energy. Although the United States is the largest producer of nuclear power, it trails

FIGURE 5.7

other Western countries in the proportion of national electrical production generated by nuclear power. That is primarily because oil, natural gas, and coal have been more accessible in the United States than in other countries.

In 2002 the United States led the world in nuclear power generation with 780.1 billion kilowatt-hours, followed by France's 414.9 billion and Japan's 295.1 billion. (See Table 5.2.) These three countries together generated 58% of the world's nuclear electric power. France had by far the highest proportion (approximately 78%) of its electrical power produced by nuclear energy, followed by Belgium (59%), Sweden (46%), and Switzerland (41%). Japan produces 28% of its electricity by nuclear power generation, and the United States only 20%.

In its Information Digest 2004–2005, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission reported that as of December 31, 2003, there were 438 nuclear power plants in operation worldwide and fifty-four were under construction, on order, or had their construction halted, including eight in India, eight in South Korea, six in Russia, five in the Ukraine, five in Japan, and four in Romania.

Worldwide, the EIA projected in its International Energy Outlook 2004 that nuclear generating capacity will increase slightly overall, from 353 gigawatts in 2001 to 385 gigawatts in 2025. The increase will peak in 2015 with a generating capacity of 407 gigawatts. Totals for individual countries will increase for some and decrease for others. Some countries whose capacities are projected to increase from 2001 to 2025 are:

• Canada, from ten gigawatts in 2001, increasing to fifteen gigawatts in 2020, and decreasing to twelve gigawatts in 2025

TABLE 5.1

Nuclear generating units, 1953–2003
Year	Orders1	Cancelled orders2	Construction permits3	Low-power operating licenses4	Full-power operating licenses5	Shutdowns6	Operable units7
1Placement of an order by a utility or government agency for a nuclear steam supply system.
2Cancellation by utilities of ordered units. Includes WNP 1; the licensee intends to request that the construction permit be cancelled. Does not include three units (Bellefonte 1 and 2 and Watts Bar 2) where construction has been stopped indefinitely.
3Issuance by regulatory authority of a permit, or equivalent permission, to begin construction. Numbers reflect permits issued in a given year, not extant permits.
4Issuance by regulatory authority of license, or equivalent permission, to conduct testing but not to operate at full power.
5Issuance by regulatory authority of full-power operating license, or equivalent permission. Units generally did not begin immediate operation.
6Ceased operation permanently.
7Total of nuclear generating units holding full-power licenses, or equivalent permission to operate, at the end of the year. Although Browns Ferry 1 was shut down in 1985, the unit has remained fully licensed and thus has continued to be counted as operable during the shutdown; in May 2002, the Tennessee Valley Authority announced its intention to have the unit resume operation in 2007.
8Under new regulations beginning in 1997, the terms "Low-power operating licenses" and "Full-power operating licenses" are no longer applicable; while no new licenses have been granted under the new regulations, applications were made in 2003 for three "Early site permits."
— = Not applicable.
Web Page: For related information, see http://www.eia.doe.gov/fuelnuclear.html.
SOURCE: "Table 9.1. Nuclear Generating Units, 1953–2003," in Annual Energy Review 2003, U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, Office of Energy Markets and End Use, September 7, 2004, http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/pdf/aer.pdf (accessed September 28, 2004)
1953	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
1954	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1955	3	0	1	0	0	0	0
1956	1	0	3	0	0	0	0
1957	2	0	1	1	1	0	1
1958	4	0	0	0	0	0	1
1959	4	0	3	1	1	0	2
1960	1	0	7	1	1	0	3
1961	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
1962	2	0	1	7	6	0	9
1963	4	0	1	3	2	0	11
1964	0	0	3	2	3	1	13
1965	7	0	1	0	0	0	13
1966	20	0	5	1	2	1	14
1967	29	0	14	3	3	2	15
1968	16	0	23	0	0	2	13
1969	9	0	7	4	4	0	17
1970	14	0	10	4	3	0	20
1971	21	0	4	5	2	0	22
1972	38	7	8	6	6	1	27
1973	42	0	14	12	15	0	42
1974	28	9	23	14	15	2	55
1975	4	13	9	3	2	0	57
1976	3	1	9	7	7	1	63
1977	4	10	15	4	4	0	67
1978	2	13	13	3	4	1	70
1979	0	6	2	0	0	1	69
1980	0	15	0	5	2	0	71
1981	0	9	0	3	4	0	75
1982	0	18	0	6	4	1	78
1983	0	6	0	3	3	0	81
1984	0	6	0	7	6	0	87
1985	0	2	0	7	9	0	96
1986	0	2	0	7	5	0	101
1987	0	0	0	6	8	2	107
1988	0	3	0	1	2	0	109
1989	0	0	0	3	4	2	111
1990	0	1	0	1	2	1	112
1991	0	0	0	0	0	1	111
1992	0	0	0	0	0	2	109
1993	0	0	0	1	1	0	110
1994	0	1	0	0	0	1	109
1995	0	2	0	1	0	0	109
1996	0	0	0	0	1	1	109
1997	0	0	0	08	08	2	107
1998	0	0	0	0	0	3	104
1999	0	0	0	0	0	0	104
2000	0	0	0	0	0	0	104
2001	0	0	0	0	0	0	104
2002	0	0	0	0	0	0	104
2003	0	0	0	0	0	0	104
Total	259	124	177	132	132	28	—

TABLE 5.2

World net nuclear electric power generation, 1980, 1990, and 2002
(Billion kilowatthours)
	Nuclear electric power			Total
Region and country	1980	1990	2002P	1980	1990	2002P
R = Revised.
P = Preliminary.
— = Not applicable.
(s) = Less than 0.05 billion kilowatthours.
Note: Totals may not equal sum of components due to independent rounding.
Web Page: For related information, see http://www.eia.doe.gov/international.
SOURCE: "Table 11.16. World Net Generation of Electricity by Type, 1980, 1990, and 2002 (Billion Kilowatthours)," in Annual Energy Review 2003, U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, Office of Energy Markets and End Use, September 7, 2004, http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/pdf/aer.pdf (accessed September 28, 2004)
North America	287.0	648.9	860.3	2,721.6	3,623.9	4,592.7
Canada	35.9	69.2	71.0	367.9	468.6	548.9
Mexico	0.0	2.8	9.3	63.6	116.6	203.6
United States	251.1	576.9	780.1	2,289.6	3,038.0	3,839.3
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.7	0.9
Central and South America	2.2	9.0	19.2	308.2	R497.0	789.7
Argentina	2.2	7.0	5.4	41.8	48.3	81.4
Brazil	0.0	1.9	13.8	138.3	219.6	339.0
Paraguay	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.8	27.0	48.4
Venezuela	0.0	0.0	0.0	32.0	57.6	87.0
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	95.3	R144.5	233.9
Western Europe	219.2	707.5	881.7	1,844.5	2,351.7	2,918.4
Belgium	11.9	40.6	45.0	50.8	66.5	76.6
Finland	6.6	18.3	21.2	38.7	51.8	71.6
France	63.4	298.4	414.9	250.8	397.6	528.6
Germany	55.6	145.1	156.8	469.9	526.0	548.3
Italy	2.1	0.0	0.0	176.4	202.1	261.6
Netherlands	3.9	3.3	3.7	62.9	67.6	90.6
Norway	0.0	0.0	0.0	82.9	120.4	125.9
Spain	5.2	51.6	59.9	109.2	143.9	229.0
Sweden	25.3	64.8	65.4	94.3	141.5	142.8
Switzerland	12.9	22.4	25.9	46.4	53.0	63.5
Turkey	0.0	0.0	0.0	23.3	55.2	123.3
United Kingdom	32.3	58.7	83.6	265.1	295.2	360.8
Other	0.0	4.4	5.3	173.8	230.8	295.9
Eastern Europe and former U.S.S.R	83.2	251.3	297.1	1,604.1	1,976.6	1,619.9
Czech Republic	—	—	17.8	—	—	71.8
Kazakhstan	—	—	0.0	—	—	55.4
Poland	0.0	0.0	0.0	114.7	128.5	133.8
Romania	0.0	0.0	5.1	63.9	60.6	53.6
Russia	—	—	134.1	—	—	850.6
Ukraine	—	—	73.4	—	—	167.3
Other	83.2	251.3	66.7	1,425.6	1,787.5	287.4
Middle East	0.0	0.0	0.0	92.4	228.9	490.0
Iran	0.0	0.0	0.0	21.3	55.9	129.0
Saudi Arabia	0.0	0.0	0.0	20.5	64.9	138.2
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	50.7	108.1	222.8
Africa	0.0	8.4	12.0	189.2	307.5	453.9
Egypt	0.0	0.0	0.0	18.3	41.4	81.3
South Africa	0.0	8.4	12.0	93.1	156.0	202.6
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	77.8	110.1	170.0
Asia and Oceania	92.7	279.9	489.3	1,280.5	R2,354.7	4,425.9
Australia	0.0	0.0	0.0	87.7	146.4	210.3
China	0.0	0.0	23.5	285.5	590.3	1,575.1
India	3.0	5.6	17.8	119.3	275.5	547.2
Indonesia	0.0	0.0	0.0	13.5	46.5	99.3
Japan	78.6	192.2	295.1	549.1	822.1	1,044.0
South Korea	3.3	50.2	113.1	34.6	100.4	287.6
Taiwan	7.8	31.6	38.0	42.0	83.3	158.5
Thailand	0.0	0.0	0.0	13.6	43.7	102.4
Other	(s)	0.4	1.8	135.3	R246.4	401.4
World	684.4	1,905.0	2,559.6	8,040.5	R11,340.2	15,290.5

• Japan, from forty-three gigawatts to fifty-seven gigawatts in 2020, and down to fifty-four gigawatts in 2025
• China, from two gigawatts in 2001 to twenty-one gigawatts in 2025
• India, from three to nine gigawatts
• United States, from ninety-eight to 103 gigawatts
• France, from sixty-three to seventy gigawatts

Some countries whose capacities are projected to decrease from 2001 to 2025 are:

• Germany, from twenty-one to zero gigawatts
• The United Kingdom, from twelve to four gigawatts

Some countries are planning to cut capacity radically or phase out nuclear power altogether. Sweden has legislated a nuclear phase-out by 2010 (although it is not clear that this is an attainable goal, since nearly half of Sweden's electricity comes from nuclear power). The Netherlands and Germany have strong conservation policies and well-organized antinuclear movements. The Netherlands is projected to phase out nuclear power by 2020 and Germany by 2025.

International Agreement on Safety

In September 1994 forty nations, including the United States, signed the International Convention on Nuclear Safety, an agreement that requires them to shut down nuclear power plants if necessary safety measures cannot be guaranteed. The agreement applies to land-based civil nuclear power plants and seeks to avert accidents like the 1986 explosion at Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union, the world's worst nuclear disaster to date. Ukraine, which inherited the Chernobyl plant after the collapse of the Soviet Union, signed the agreement. Signers must submit reports on atomic installations and, if necessary, make improvements to upgrade safety at the sites. Neighboring countries may call for an urgent study if they are concerned about a reactor's safety and the potential fallout that could affect their own population or crops.