Nuclear energy policy by country - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Following the March 2011 Fukushima I nuclear accidents, China, Germany, Switzerland, Israel, Malaysia, Thailand, United Kingdom, and the Philippines are reviewing their nuclear power programs. Indonesia and Vietnam still plan to build nuclear power plants. Countries such as Australia

Nuclear power in Australia

Nuclear power in Australia is a heavily debated concept. Australia currently has no nuclear facilities generatingelectricity, however, Australia has 23% of the world's uranium deposits and is the world's second largest producer of uranium after Kazakhstan...

, Austria

Nuclear energy in Austria

In the 1960s the Austrian government started a nuclear energy program and parliament unanimously ordered a nuclear power plant built. In 1972, the German company KWU began construction of the Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant boiling water 700 MWe reactor...

, Denmark

Nuclear energy in Denmark

Denmark does not produce nuclear energy, which is in accordance with a 1985 law passed by the Danish parliament that prohibits the production of nuclear energy in Denmark. Instead, the country has focused on renewable energy sources such as wind energy. In 2007, about 11.4 TWh of electricity...

, Greece

Nuclear energy in Greece

Although Greece has established the Greek Atomic Energy Commission , a decision has been made not to implement a nuclear power program to generate electricity....

, Ireland, Luxembourg

Nuclear energy in Luxembourg

In 1978, Luxembourg proposed the construction of a 1,200 MW nuclear reactor but dropped the plans after threats of major protests....

, Portugal

Nuclear energy in Portugal

Nuclear energy in Portugal is very limited and strictly non-commercial. Portugal has one research reactor located in the National Nuclear Research Centre. Nuclear energy activities are not planned in the near future...

, Israel, Malaysia

Nuclear energy in Malaysia

Although Malaysia has established Nuclear Agency and been actively involved in the periodic review of the nuclear option, currently there is no nuclear power generation plant neither is there a plan to embark on a nuclear power program in the foreseeable future....

, New Zealand

New Zealand's nuclear-free zone

In 1984, Prime Minister David Lange barred nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed ships from using New Zealand ports or entering New Zealand waters. Under the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987, territorial sea, land and airspace of New Zealand became nuclear-free zones...

, North Korea, and Norway

Nuclear energy in Norway

No nuclear power plant has ever been established in Norway; however, the country has a legal framework for licensing the construction and operation of nuclear installations. Also, four research reactors have been built in Norway, the first was JEEP I which was operative from 1951 to 1966. Two...

remain opposed to nuclear power.

List

Country	installation	under construction	plans to build	plans to phase out
Albania Nuclear energy in Albania Albania presently has no nuclear power plants, but in 2007 the government discussed constructing a nuclear power plant at Durrës. In addition to meeting the domestic energy demands, the plan foresaw electricity export to neighboring Balkan countries and Italy via an underwater cable, which would...	no	no	yes?
Algeria Nuclear energy in Algeria Since 1995 Algeria operates research reactors at Draria and Aïn Oussera. It signed nuclear cooperation agreements with Russia in January 2007, with the United States in June 2007, and with China in March 2008. Algeria has discussed nuclear cooperation also with France....	research only		yes
Argentina Nuclear energy in Argentina In Argentina, about 7% of the electricity comes from 2 operational nuclear reactors: The Embalse Río Tercero plant, a CANDU6 reactor, and the Atucha 1 plant, a PHWR German design. In 2001, the plant was modified to burn Slightly Enriched Uranium, making it the first PHWR reactor to burn that...	yes
Armenia Nuclear energy in Armenia Armenia operates one Soviet-designed VVER-440 nuclear unit at Metsamor, which supplies over 40% of the country's energy needs. The EU and Turkey have expressed concern about the continuing operation of the plant...	yes
Australia	no	no	no		yes
Austria Nuclear energy in Austria In the 1960s the Austrian government started a nuclear energy program and parliament unanimously ordered a nuclear power plant built. In 1972, the German company KWU began construction of the Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant boiling water 700 MWe reactor...	no				Nuclear reactions are forbidden by law. 1978, prolonged in 1997
Bangladesh Nuclear energy in Bangladesh Bangladesh considered building a nuclear power plant for the first time in 1961. Since then, several feasibility studies have been carried out, affirming the feasibility of the project. In 1963 the Rooppur site was selected. More recently, in 2001 Bangladesh adopted a national Nuclear Power Action...	no				no
Belarus Nuclear energy in Belarus Belarus presently has no nuclear power plants. However, in mid 2006, the Belarusian government approved a plan for the construction of an initial 2,000 MWe PWR nuclear plant, the Belarusian NPP, in the Mahilyow Voblast. In February 2007 it was announced that construction would start in 2008,...	no	no	yes	no	no
Belgium Nuclear energy in Belgium In 1962, Belgium received its first nuclear reactor – an 11 MWe pressurized water reactor — from the United States. The country’s first commercial nuclear reactor began operating in 1974. Currently, Belgium has seven nuclear reactors operating in the country with a net MWe of 5,761...	yes		no	yes
Brazil Nuclear energy in Brazil Nuclear energy accounts for about 3% of the Brazil's electricity. It is produced by two pressurized water reactor reactors at Angra, which is the country's sole nuclear power plant. Development of the third reactor began in 1984 but was halted in 1986. Restarting of construction was approved by...	yes
Bulgaria	yes	yes	?	?	no
Burma Nuclear energy in Burma On 15 May 2007, Burma and Russia signed an agreement to construct a nuclear research center in Burma. The center will comprise a 10 MWt light water reactor working on 20%-enriched U-235, an activation analysis laboratory, a medical isotope production laboratory, silicon doping system, nuclear...	no
Chile Nuclear energy in Chile In Chile, although there is no commitment from the government to introduce nuclear energy until 2011, the debate is ongoing. In February 2007, the Energy Ministry of Chile announced that it was beginning technical studies into the development of nuclear power, despite being highly rejected by the...	no	no	research is done	no	no
Croatia Nuclear energy in Croatia Croatia has no nuclear power plants on its territory. Croatia co-owns the Krško Nuclear Power Plant together with Slovenia; the Krško plant was built in the era of Yugoslavia on the territory of present-day Slovenia...	no, but shared plant in Slovenia		no
Czech Republic Nuclear power in the Czech Republic The Czech Republic currently operates two nuclear power stations: Temelín and Dukovany. As of 2010 there have been government and corporate moves to expand Czech nuclear power generation capacity...	yes	no	yes	no	?
Denmark Nuclear energy in Denmark Denmark does not produce nuclear energy, which is in accordance with a 1985 law passed by the Danish parliament that prohibits the production of nuclear energy in Denmark. Instead, the country has focused on renewable energy sources such as wind energy. In 2007, about 11.4 TWh of electricity...	no	no	no	no	1985 law prohibits production
Egypt	no	no
Ghana Nuclear energy in Ghana There are currently no nuclear power plants in Ghana, although there are several nuclear research reactors in Ghana and plans to build to a power plant....	research reactor		yes
Germany	yes	no	no	yes
Greece Nuclear energy in Greece Although Greece has established the Greek Atomic Energy Commission , a decision has been made not to implement a nuclear power program to generate electricity....	no	no	no	no	yes?
Hong Kong	no, but shared plant	no	no, but usage is planned to increase	n/a	The Hong Kong Government has planned to increase the share of nuclear power in electricity consumption from 23% in 2009 progressively to 50%. The CLP Power owns minority stake in the Daya Bay nuclear power station and consumes 70% of the electricity it produces. The Hong Kong Government indicated that they will take the Fukushima accidents into consideration.
Hungary Nuclear energy in Hungary The first Hungarian nuclear reactor was built at Csillebérc in 1959. Construction on the first commercial nuclear reactors began in 1975 after the oil crisis and the first was completed in 1982. Currently, in the Paks Nuclear Power Plant, Hungary has four nuclear reactors with a net output...	yes	?	?	no	no
Ireland	no	no	yes	?	yes?
Israel Nuclear energy in Israel Israel has no nuclear power plants. However, in January 2007, Israeli Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer said his country should consider producing nuclear power for civilian purposes....	no
Iran Nuclear energy in Iran Iran is currently not using nuclear energy, but is working on the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant....	yes
Italy	no (old plants are inactive)	no	no	no	moratorium after 1987 referendum expired on 2009, another 1-year moratorium was passed in March 2011, but 2011 referendum abrogated regulations allowing for the production of nuclear power within the territory
Jordan Nuclear energy in Jordan Jordan has signed memorandums of understanding with the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Japan, China, Russia, Spain, South Korea, Argentina, Romania, and Turkey...	no	research	yes	n/a
Kenya Nuclear energy in Kenya In September 2010 Energy Ministry Permanent Secretary Patrick Nyoike announced, that Kenya aims to build a 1,000 MWe nuclear power plant by 2017 as a less-expensive alternative to their thermal power stations. The projected costs using South Korean technology are 3.5 billion US$....	no	research	yes	no	no
Libya Nuclear energy in Libya In 2006 Libya and France signed an agreement on peaceful uses of atomic energy, and in July 2007, they signed a memorandum of understanding related to building a mid-sized nuclear plant with Areva reactor for seawater desalination. This deal was opposed by Germany....
Lithuania Nuclear energy in Lithuania In Lithuania in 1978, construction began on two RBMK reactors with 30-year lives for the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant. The light-water, graphite-moderated reactors were of similar design as those at Chernobyl. The nuclear power plant began operating in 1983. The first reactor was decommissioned in...	yes	no	yes	no	no
Luxembourg Nuclear energy in Luxembourg In 1978, Luxembourg proposed the construction of a 1,200 MW nuclear reactor but dropped the plans after threats of major protests....	no	no	no	no	no
Malta Nuclear energy in Malta Malta has no nuclear energy facilities and when Silvio Berlusconi suggested that the island nation build such plants to supply Italy with electricity, the suggestion created an outcry in Malta where opinion is strongly anti-nuclear....	no	no	no	no	no
Mexico	yes	no	no	no
Morocco Nuclear energy in Morocco Morocco constructs a 2 MW Triga research reactor. The government has plans to build a nuclear power plant in 2016–2017 at Sidi Boulbra in cooperation with Russia's Atomstroyexport, and desalination plant at Tan-Tan on the Atlantic coast in cooperation with China....	no	research	yes	no	no
Netherlands Nuclear energy in the Netherlands The Netherlands' only commercial nuclear reactor is Borssele, which became operational in 1973 and produces about 4% of the country’s electricity. The older Dodewaard nuclear power plant was a test reactor that later got attached to the national grid but was closed in 1997.In 1994, the...	yes	no	yes	no	no
Nigeria Nuclear energy in Nigeria Since 2004 Nigeria has a Chinese-origin research reactor at Ahmadu Bello University, and has sought the support of the International Atomic Energy Agency to develop plans for up to 4,000 MWe of nuclear capacity by 2027 according to the National Program for the Deployment of Nuclear Power for...	research	no	no	no	no
New Zealand	no	no	no	no	yes
Norway Nuclear energy in Norway No nuclear power plant has ever been established in Norway; however, the country has a legal framework for licensing the construction and operation of nuclear installations. Also, four research reactors have been built in Norway, the first was JEEP I which was operative from 1951 to 1966. Two...	no	no	no	no	yes?
Portugal Nuclear energy in Portugal Nuclear energy in Portugal is very limited and strictly non-commercial. Portugal has one research reactor located in the National Nuclear Research Centre. Nuclear energy activities are not planned in the near future...	no, research only	no	no	no	yes
Poland Nuclear energy in Poland In the 1980s, Poland had four Russian reactors under construction, but the project was canceled in 1990. A new nuclear power plant was approved in the 2005–2025 energy strategy document, and it is expected to be in operation by 2021 or 2022...	yes	no	yes	no	no
Slovakia Nuclear energy in Slovakia Slovakia has four operational nuclear reactors, commissioned between 1984 and 1999. The net MWe is 1,711 and nuclear energy produces approximately 50% of the country’s electricity. Of Slovakia's seven reactors, the three oldest ones have shut down...	yes	?	?	?	no
Slovenia Nuclear energy in Slovenia Slovenia's only nuclear power plant is the Krško Nuclear Power Plant, which went into commercial operation on January 15, 1983. It was built as a joint venture by Slovenia and Croatia which were at the time both part of Yugoslavia...	yes	no	?	?	no
South Africa Nuclear energy in South Africa South Africa is the only country in Africa with a commercial nuclear power plantAs at 2011. and it currently has an expansion policy based upon the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor ....	yes		yes
Spain	yes	?	?	?	no
Switzerland	yes	no	no	yes	no
Syria Nuclear energy in Syria Syria abandoned its plans to build a VVER-440 reactor after the Chernobyl accident. The plans of nuclear program were revived at the beginning of 2000s when Syria negotiated with Russia to build a nuclear facility that would include a nuclear power plant and a seawater atomic desalination plant....	no
Tunisia Nuclear energy in Tunisia Tunisia evaluates the possibility to build a 600 MWe nuclear plant. In December 2006 a cooperation agreement on peaceful use of nuclear energy was signed with France, focused on nuclear power and desalination....	no	no	yes, but not very specific
Turkey Nuclear energy in Turkey Turkey presently has no nuclear power plants. However, in August 2006, the Turkish Government announced its plan to have three nuclear power plants with total capacity of 4,500 MWe, operating by 2012–2015. In May 2007, a new bill concerning construction and operation of nuclear power plants...	no	no	yes	no	no
Uruguay Nuclear energy in Uruguay Uruguay has a law that prohibits nuclear energy development. However, Uruguay and Russia are considering limited cooperation in nuclear energy by using 70 MWe Russian floating nuclear power station which could power infrastructure on-shore via a cable....	no
Venezuela Nuclear energy in Venezuela In 2010 Venezuela announced plans to build a nuclear power station, with support from Russia.After the 2011 Fukushima nuclear incident, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced a halt to plans on building a NPP....	no	no	stopped after 2011 Fukushima	no	no
Vietnam Nuclear energy in Vietnam In the 1980s Vietnam undertook two preliminary nuclear power studies, which concluded that there was a need to introduce nuclear energy in order to meet the expected growth in electricity demand. A national energy plan stated that the nuclear power program was to be commenced by 2010...	?		yes	no	no

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

aims to build a 1,000 MWe nuclear power plant by 2017.

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

is the only country in Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

with a commercial nuclear power plant and it currently has an expansion policy.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

considered building a nuclear power plant for the first time in 1961. Since then, several feasibility studies have been carried out, affirming the feasibility of the project. In 1963 the Rooppur site was selected. More recently, in 2001 Bangladesh adopted a national Nuclear Power Action Plan. On 24 June 2007, Bangladesh's government announced it will build a nuclear power plant to meet electricity shortages. The first nuclear power plant with a generation capacity between 700 and 1,000 MW will be installed by 2015 at Rooppur in Pabna district.

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

has 11 reactors operating, 20 reactors under construction, and is planning or proposing over 100 additional ones. 60 GWe of capacity is planned to go online by 2020, with an increase to 120–160 GWe by 2030. However, according to a government research unit, China must not build "too many nuclear power reactors too quickly", in order to avoid a shortfall of fuel, equipment and qualified plant workers.

Gulf states

Six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council

Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf

The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf , also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council , is a political and economic union of the Arab states bordering the Persian Gulf and constituting the Arabian Peninsula, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates...

(Kuwait

Kuwait

The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

, Bahrain

Bahrain

' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...

, the United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...

, Qatar

Qatar

Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...

and Oman

Oman

Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...

) have announced that the Council is commissioning a study on the peaceful use of nuclear energy. In February 2007 they agreed with the IAEA to cooperate on a feasibility study for a regional nuclear power and desalination program.

The United Arab Emirates adopted a national policy on nuclear energy in July 2008 and a national nuclear energy law on 4 October 2009. According to the law and the policy document, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation was established. Memorandums of understanding on cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear energy are signed with France, the United States and the United Kingdom. In December 2009, the UAE decided to build a nuclear power plant with four APR1400 reactors. The first reactor to be developed by the Korea Electric Power

Korea Electric Power

Korea Electric Power Corporation, better known as KEPCO, is the largest electric utility in South Korea,...

is to come on line in 2017. The plant will be located at Braka, 53 kilometres (32.9 mi) from Ruwais

Ruwais

Al Ruwais is a town located some 240 kilometers west of Abu Dhabi city. The Ruwais industrial and housing complex has been developed by ADNOC as a major contributor to the national economy and represents a series of multi-million-dollar investments by the company...

.

On 29 March 2008, Bahrain signed a memorandum of understanding on nuclear energy with the United States.

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

has 20 reactors operating and 6 reactors under construction.

India has encountered effective local anti-nuclear

Anti-nuclear

The anti-nuclear movement is a social movement that opposes the use of nuclear technologies. Many direct action groups, environmental groups, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, national, and international level...

opposition, growing national wariness about foreign nuclear reactors, and a nuclear liability controversy that threatens to prevent new reactor imports. There have been mass protests against the French-backed 9900 MW Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project

Jaitapur nuclear power project

Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project is a proposed 9900 MW power project of Nuclear Power Corporation of India at Madban village of Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra...

in Maharashtra and the 2000 MW Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant

Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant

Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power station currently under construction in Koodankulam in the Tirunelveli district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu...

in Tamil Nadu. The state government of West Bengal state has also refused permission to a proposed 6000 MW facility near the town of Haripur that intended to host six Russian reactors.

Indonesia

In the mid 1990s, Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

conducted a feasibility study into constructing 12 nuclear power plants. The plan was postponed due to criticism from environmentalists and the Asian regional economic crisis in 1997. In 2006, Indonesian Government announced a plan to build its first major nuclear power plant on Muria peninsula

Mount Muria

Mount Muria or Gunung Muria is a dormant volcano on the north coast of Java, Indonesia.The area is notable for a number of reasons. It is the site of the grave of one of the Wali Sanga of Java - Sunan Muria - one of the Islamic Saints associated with the origins of Islam in Java...

, Jepara district

Jepara

Jepara is a small town in the province of Central Java, Indonesia.Jepara is on the north coast of Java, north-east of Semarang, not far from Mount Muria. It is also the main town of the district of Jepara, which has a population of about 1 million. Jepara is famous as the center of Javanese teak...

, Central Java

Central Java

Central Java is a province of Indonesia. The administrative capital is Semarang. It is one of six provinces on the island of Java.This province is the province of high Human Development in Indonesia and its Points Development Index countries is equivalent to Lebanon. The province of Central Java...

by 2015. However, this decision is not final yet. This plan is heavily criticized by environmental organisations.

In June 2007 was announced that in Gorontalo

Gorontalo (province)

Gorontalo is a province of Indonesia on the northern part of Sulawesi. The province was established in December 2000 after being split from North Sulawesi province...

will be set up 70 MW floating nuclear power plant of Russian origin

Russian floating nuclear power station

Floating nuclear power stations are vessels projected by Rosatom that present self-contained, low-capacity, floating nuclear power plants...

Iran

In the mid 1970s, Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

started construction of two PWR units at [Bushehr], but the project was suspended in 1979. In 1994, Russia agreed to complete unit 1 of Bushehr nuclear power plant and it was expected to be completed late in 2007. Also second reactor is planned at Bushehr. It also announced that a new nuclear power plant is to be built at Darkhovin in Khūzestān Province, where two plants were about to be constructed in 1970s. Currently, Iran has reported that a power plant at Bushehr is operational.

Israel

Israel has no nuclear power plants. However, in January 2007, Israeli Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer said his country should consider producing nuclear power for civilian purposes. As a result of the nuclear emergencies at Japan's Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant

International reaction to Fukushima I nuclear accidents

The international reaction to the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster has been diverse and widespread. Many inter-governmental agencies are responding to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, often on an ad hoc basis...

, on March 17, 2011, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Benjamin Netanyahu

Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. He serves also as the Chairman of the Likud Party, as a Knesset member, as the Health Minister of Israel, as the Pensioner Affairs Minister of Israel and as the Economic Strategy Minister of Israel.Netanyahu is the first and, to...

indicated that Israel would not develop nuclear power.

Japan

Nuclear energy

Nuclear power

Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...

was a national strategic priority in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, but there has been concern about the ability of Japan's nuclear plants to withstand seismic activity. The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant

The is a large, modern nuclear power plant on a 4.2-square-kilometer site including land in the towns of Kashiwazaki and Kariwa in Niigata Prefecture, Japan on the coast of the Sea of Japan, from where it gets cooling water...

was completely shut down for 21 months following an earthquake in 2007.

Following an earthquake, tsunami

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami

The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, or the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately east...

, and the failure of cooling systems at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant on March 11, 2011, a nuclear emergency was declared. This was the first time a nuclear emergency had been declared in Japan, and 140,000 residents within 20 km of the plant were evacuated. The total amount of radioactive material released is unclear, as the crisis is ongoing.

On 6 May 2011, Prime Minister Naoto Kan

Naoto Kan

is a Japanese politician, and former Prime Minister of Japan. In June 2010, then-Finance Minister Kan was elected as the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan and designated Prime Minister by the Diet to succeed Yukio Hatoyama. On 26 August 2011, Kan announced his resignation...

ordered the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant

Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant

The is a nuclear power plant located in Omaezaki city, Shizuoka Prefecture, on Japan's east coast, 200 km south-west of Tokyo. It is managed by the Chubu Electric Power Company. There are five units contained at a single site with a net area of 1.6 km2 . A sixth unit began construction...

be shut down as an earthquake of magnitude 8.0 or higher is likely to hit the area within the next 30 years. Kan wanted to avoid a possible repeat of the Fukushima disaster. On 9 May 2011, Chubu Electric decided to comply with the government request. Kan later called for a new energy policy with less reliance on nuclear power.

Problems in stabilizing the Fukushima I nuclear plant have hardened attitudes to nuclear power

Nuclear power

. As of June 2011, "more than 80 percent of Japanese now say they are anti-nuclear

Anti-nuclear

and distrust government information on radiation

Radiation

In physics, radiation is a process in which energetic particles or energetic waves travel through a medium or space. There are two distinct types of radiation; ionizing and non-ionizing...

". Post-Fukushima polls suggest that somewhere "between 41 and 54 percent of Japanese support scrapping, or reducing the numbers of, nuclear power plants". Tens of thousands of people marched in central Tokyo in September 2011, chanting "Sayonara nuclear power" and waving banners, to call on Japan's government to abandon atomic energy. As of October 2011, only 11 nuclear power plants are operating. There have been electricity shortages, but Japan survived the summer without the extensive blackouts that had been predicted. An energy white paper, approved by the Japanese Cabinet in October 2011, says "public confidence in safety of nuclear power was greatly damaged" by the Fukushima disaster, and calls for a reduction in the nation’s reliance on nuclear power.

Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

has signed memorandums of understanding with the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Japan, China, and South Korea. In December 2009, Jordan Atomic Energy Commission

Jordan Atomic Energy Commission

Jordan Atomic Energy Commission was established in place of the Jordan Nuclear Energy Commission. The main objective of the JAEC is to promote and develop peaceful utilization of atomic energy.-Objectives:...

(JAEC) in cooperation with a consortium headed by the Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute signed an agreement with Daewoo Heavy Industries to build a its first 5 MW research reactor by 2014 at the Jordan University of Science and Technology

Jordan University of Science and Technology

The Jordan University of Science and Technology , often abbreviated JUST, is a comprehensive, state-supported university located on the outskirts of Irbid at Ar Ramtha region, in northern Jordan....

. The research reactor will become a focal point for a Nuclear Technology Centre, which will train upcoming generations of nuclear engineers and scientists in the Kingdom in addition to provide irradiation services for the industrial, agricultural and medical sectors.

Jordan plans to start building its first nuclear power plant by 2013 at the site about 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) from Aqaba

Aqaba

Aqaba is a coastal city in the far south of Jordan, the capital of Aqaba Governorate at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba. Aqaba is strategically important to Jordan as it is the country's only seaport. Aqaba is best known today as a diving and beach resort, but industrial activity remains important...

. It will be used for electricity generation and desalination. The studies are carried out by Tractebel Engineering

Tractebel Engineering

Tractebel Engineering is a Belgium based, international company providing worldwide life-cycle consultancy and engineering in power, nuclear, gas, industry and infrastructure for the GDF SUEZ Group – within GDF SUEZ Energy Services - as well as for national and international institutions and...

.

Jordan has also granted Areva exclusive mining rights for uranium in central Jordan.

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...

shut down its only NPP in 1999. In 2003, the Minister of Energy and Mines announced plans for the construction of a new NPP within the next 15 years. The two–three unit NPP is to be established on the shores of Lake Balkhash

Lake Balkhash

Lake Balkhash is one of the largest lakes in Asia and 12th largest continental lake in the world. It is located in southeastern Kazakhstan, in Central Asia, and belongs to an endorheic basin shared by Kazakhstan and China, with a small part in Kyrgyzstan. The basin drains into the lake via seven...

in the Karaganda region of central Kazakhstan.

North Korea

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...

has no nuclear power program currently. Earlier the building of nuclear plant near Sinpo

Sinpo

Sinpo is a port city on the coast of the Sea of Japan in central South Hamgyong province, North Korea. According to the last available census, approximately 158,000 people reside here.-Weather:...

was started by USSR but construction was cancelled due to luck of funding. Under the Agreed Framework, North Korea agreed to end its graphite-moderated nuclear reactor program in exchange for construction of two PWR

Pressurized water reactor

Pressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors...

s at Kumho, but construction was suspended in November 2003. Under the Six-Party Talks

Six-party talks

The six-party talks aim to find a peaceful resolution to the security concerns as a result of the North Korean nuclear weapons program.There has been a series of meetings with six participating states:* The Democratic People's Republic of Korea ;...

, 19 September 2005 North Korea pledged to end all its nuclear programs and return to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to...

, in exchange for international inspections in return for benefits including energy aid and normalization of relations with Japan and the United States.

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

has 18 operational nuclear power reactors, with two more under construction and scheduled to go online by 2004.

Malaysia

Myanmar

On 15 May 2007, Myanmar

Myanmar

Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....

and Russia signed an agreement to construct a nuclear research center in Myanmar. The center will comprise a 10 MWt light water reactor working on 20%-enriched U-235, an activation analysis laboratory, a medical isotope production laboratory, silicon doping system, nuclear waste treatment and burial facilities. Groups such as Greenpeace

Greenpeace

Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...

are concerned that such technology may pose possible security threats.

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

operates two reactors, is building a third, and is considering two more. The current total nuclear generating capacity is 425 MWe.

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

abandoned its plans to build a VVER-440 reactor after the Chernobyl accident. The plans of nuclear program were revived at the beginning of 2000s when Syria negotiated with Russia to build a nuclear facility that would include a nuclear power plant and a seawater atomic desalination

Desalination

Desalination, desalinization, or desalinisation refers to any of several processes that remove some amount of salt and other minerals from saline water...

plant.

Taiwan

In Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

nuclear energy policy is a contentious issue. On World Environment Day in June 2011, environmental groups protested against the nation’s three operating nuclear power plants and the construction of a fourth plant.

Thailand

According to the energy minister of Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

, the state owned Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand

Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand , , is a state enterprise that owns and manages the majority of Thailand's electricity generation capacity, as well as the nation's transmission network.EGAT is managed by the Ministry of Energy....

will build its first two nuclear power plants by 2021. This decision was criticized by Greenpeace, which suggested to focus on alternative power supplies from hydropower and smaller biofuel plants before risking nuclear.

Vietnam

In the 1980s Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

undertook two preliminary nuclear power studies, which concluded that there was a need to introduce nuclear energy in order to meet the expected growth in electricity demand. A national energy plan stated that the nuclear power program was to be commenced by 2010. In February 2006, the government announced the first nuclear power plant would be commissioned by 2017. In June 2010, Vietnam announced that it plans to build fourteen reactors at eight locations by 2030, providing 10% of the nation's electricity. In October 2010, it signed an agreement with Russia for the construction of the country's first nuclear power plant, Ninh Thuan 1, due to begin in 2014.

Yemen

Yemen has called for establishing The Arab Atomic Energy Agency for nuclear researches and using them for peaceful means, especially generating electricity.

Albania

Albania presently has no nuclear power plants, but in 2007 the government discussed constructing a nuclear power plant at Durrës

Durrës

Durrës is the second largest city of Albania located on the central Albanian coast, about west of the capital Tirana. It is one of the most ancient and economically important cities of Albania. Durres is situated at one of the narrower points of the Adriatic Sea, opposite the Italian ports of Bari...

. In addition to meeting the domestic energy demands, the plan foresaw electricity export to neighboring Balkan countries and Italy via an underwater cable, which would link the Italian and Albanian electricity networks. In April 2009, Albania and Croatia announced a plan to jointly construct a 1,500 MWe nuclear power plant on the shores of Lake Scutari

Lake Scutari

Lake Skadar, also called Lake Scutari and Lake Shkodër is a lake on the border of Montenegro with Albania, the largest lake in the Balkan Peninsula. It is named after the city of Shkodra in northern Albania .- Geography :...

(Lake Shkodër), near Albania's border with Montenegro

Montenegro

Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...

Bulgaria

The Bulgarian government has favored nuclear energy to generate electricity since 1956 and its first commercial nuclear reactor began to operate in 1974. Currently, two reactors are operational providing approximately 35% of the country's electricity. The government plans to build two new units at the Belene Nuclear Power Plant

Belene Nuclear Power Plant

The Belene Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant currently under construction 3 km from Belene and 11 km from Svishtov in Pleven Province, northern Bulgaria, near the Danube River...

. A contract with Russian Atomstroyexport has been signed for two AES-92 VVER-1000 reactors.

Czech Republic

The Czechoslovak government completed its first nuclear power plant

Nuclear power plant

A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...

– a gas-cooled

Gas Cooled Reactor

A gas-cooled reactor is a nuclear reactor that uses graphite as a neutron moderator and carbon dioxide as coolant...

heavy water reactor

Heavy water reactor

A pressurised heavy water reactor is a nuclear power reactor, commonly using unenriched natural uranium as its fuel, that uses heavy water as its coolant and moderator. The heavy water coolant is kept under pressure in order to raise its boiling point, allowing it to be heated to higher...

– in 1972 in Bohunice. The country's first commercial nuclear power plant began operating in 1985, and the government is still committed to nuclear energy

Nuclear power

today. The Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

currently has six nuclear reactors with a net MWe

MWE

MWE may refer to:*Manufacturer's Weight Empty*McDermott Will & Emery*Midwest Express, an airline*Merowe Airport - IATA code*Multiword expressionMWe may refer to:*Megawatt electrical...

of 3,472 and plans to build two more 1,500 MWe

MWE

MWE may refer to:*Manufacturer's Weight Empty*McDermott Will & Emery*Midwest Express, an airline*Merowe Airport - IATA code*Multiword expressionMWe may refer to:*Megawatt electrical...

reactors by 2020. According to data from 1990 to 2005, the Czech Republic posted the largest increase in nuclear energy capacity (114%) and energy production (96%) of any EU country. Furthermore, the Czech Republic exported 24,985 GWh in 2005.

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

has four commercial reactors, which provide 27% of the country's electricity. Two VVER

VVER

The VVER, or WWER, is a series of pressurised water reactors originally developed by the Soviet Union, and now Russia, by OKB Gidropress. Power output ranges from 440 MWe to 1200 MWe with the latest Russian development of the design...

-440 pressurized water reactor

Pressurized water reactor

s built by Atomenergoeksport and commissioned in 1977 and 1980, are located in Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant

Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant

Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant , is a nuclear power plant located close to the Finnish city of Loviisa. It houses two Soviet-designed VVER-440/213 PWR reactors, each with a capacity of 488 MW....

. They are operated by Fortum

Fortum

Fortum Oyj is a Finnish publicly listed energy company, which focuses on the Nordic and Baltic countries, Poland and the north-west of Russia. After acquisition of Russian energy company TGC-10 in year 2008, Western Siberia has become an important operating area for Fortum. The head of the company...

. Two boiling water reactor

Boiling water reactor

The boiling water reactor is a type of light water nuclear reactor used for the generation of electrical power. It is the second most common type of electricity-generating nuclear reactor after the pressurized water reactor , also a type of light water nuclear reactor...

s built by Asea-Atom (nowadays Westinghouse Electric Company

Westinghouse Electric Company

Westinghouse Electric Company LLC is a nuclear power company, offering a wide range of nuclear products and services to utilities throughout the world, including nuclear fuel, service and maintenance, instrumentation and control and advanced nuclear plant designs...

) and commissioned in 1978 and 1980, are located at the Olkiluoto plant in Eurajoki

Eurajoki

Eurajoki is a municipality of Finland located in the region of Satakunta in the province of Western Finland. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is ....

, near Rauma

Rauma, Finland

Rauma is a town and municipality of ca. inhabitants on the west coast of Finland, north of Turku, and south of Pori. Granted town privileges on May 17, 1442 , Rauma is known of its high quality lace , and of the old wooden architecture of its centre , which is a Unesco world heritage...

. They are owned and operated by Teollisuuden Voima

Teollisuuden Voima

Teollisuuden Voima Oyj is a Finnish nuclear power company owned by a consortium of power and industrial companies. The biggest shareholders are Pohjolan Voima and Fortum...

, a subsidiary of Pohjolan Voima

Pohjolan Voima

Pohjolan Voima Oy is the second biggest Finnish energy company, which owns hydropower and thermal power plants . Pohjolan Voima is a founder and main shareholder of the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant operator Teollisuuden Voima Oy...

. In 2002, the cabinet's decision to allow the construction of fifth reactor (the third at Olkiluoto) was accepted in the parliament. The reactor under construction is the European Pressurized Reactor

European Pressurized Reactor

The EPR is a third generation pressurized water reactor design. It has been designed and developed mainly by Framatome , Electricité de France in France, and Siemens AG in Germany...

, built by French company Areva

Areva

AREVA is a French public multinational industrial conglomerate headquartered in the Tour Areva in Courbevoie, Paris. AREVA is mainly known for nuclear power; it also has interests in other energy projects. It was created on 3 September 2001, by the merger of Framatome , Cogema and...

. It is scheduled to go on line in 2013. On 21 April 2010, cabinet decided to grant permits for construction of the sixth and seventh commercial reactors to Teollisuuden Voima and Fennovoima

Fennovoima

Fennovoima Ltd is a Finnish nuclear power company owned by E.ON and a consortium of Finnish power and industrial companies. E.ON Kärnkraft Finland owns 34% of Fennovoima and Voimaosakeyhtiö SF owns 66%. Voimaosakeyhtiö SF has 69 shareholders....

, a subsidiary of E.ON

E.ON

E.ON AG, marketed with an interpunct as E•ON, is the holding company of the world's largest investor-owned energy service provider based in Düsseldorf, Germany. The name comes from the Greek word aeon which means eternity....

. Reactors would be built accordingly at Olkiluoto and Pyhäjoki

Pyhäjoki

Pyhäjoki is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish.Fennovoima, a Finnish...

or Simo

Simo, Finland

Simo is a municipality located in the province of Lapland, Finland, about from the Swedish border.The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . In 2001, Simo's debt per capita was 946.39 Euros....

. The application by Fortum to build a new reactor at Loviisa was declined. The decision needs an approval by the parliament. According to a TNS Gallup survey conducted in January 2010, 48% of Finns had a positive view of nuclear power, and 17% were negative.

Responsibility for storage and disposal of nuclear waste remains with the power companies. Prior to 1996, Finnish companies would export nuclear waste to the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

. However, a Finnish law passed in 1996 prohibited the transport of nuclear waste abroad. With this law, Finland became the first country that decided to encapsulate spent nuclear fuel into deep repositories. Repository construction is to begin in 2012 with completion by 2020. Once in operation, the process will involve putting twelve fuel assemblies into a boron steel canister and enclosing it into a copper capsule. Each capsule will then be placed in its own hole in the repository and packed with bentonite clay. The estimated cost of this project is about EUR 818 million, which includes the cost of construction, encapsulation, and operating costs. The State Nuclear Waste Management Fund has saved approximately EUR 1.4 billion from charges for generated electricity.

France

After the oil crisis of the early 1970s, the French government decided in 1974 to move towards self-sufficiency in electricity production, primarily through the construction of nuclear power

Nuclear power in France

Nuclear power is the primary source of electric power in France. In 2004, 425.8 TWh out of the country's total production of 540.6 TWh of electricity was from nuclear power , the highest percentage in the world....

stations. France today produces around 78.1% of its electricity through nuclear power. Because France produces an overall electricity surplus, it exports nuclear-produced energy. The Board of Electricité de France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

(EDF

Électricité de France

Électricité de France S.A. is the second largest French utility company. Headquartered in Paris, France, with €65.2 billion in revenues in 2010, EDF operates a diverse portfolio of 120,000+ megawatts of generation capacity in Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.EDF is one of...

) has approved construction of a 1630 MWe European Pressurized Reactor at Flamanville, Normandy. Construction is expected to begin in late 2007, with completion in 2012.

France established a law in 2005 requiring that nuclear power be central to energy policy and security. Under this law, France would build a third-generation nuclear reactors, by 2015, of which it may decide to build forty more. Each EPR reactor would produce 1,600 MW of electricity versus the 900 MW that current reactors produce. The EPR reactor was also recognized as safer and more efficient. In August 2005, EDF announced that it wanted to replace all of its reactors with EPR reactors.

EDF reprocesses approximately 850 of the 1,200 tons of used fuel each year. The reprocessed spent fuel is made into plutonium

Plutonium

Plutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation...

. The plutonium is then converted into fresh mixed oxide

Mixed oxide

In chemistry, a mixed oxide is a somewhat informal name for an oxide that contains more than one chemical element in its cation, or of a single element cation that has atoms in several states of oxidation....

(MOX

Mox

MOX might be a name or acronym for:*Malaysian Oxygen Berhad - A Malaysian company that is specializes in providing total gas solutions.*Mixed Oxide Fuel, from nuclear reprocessing*An alien race in the TimeSplitters 2 video game, the Mox...

) fuel, which is used in over 35 reactors across Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. These reactors can load approximately 20-50% of their cores with the MOX fuel

MOX fuel

Mixed oxide fuel, commonly referred to as MOX fuel, is nuclear fuel that contains more than one oxide of fissile material. MOX fuel contains plutonium blended with natural uranium, reprocessed uranium, or depleted uranium. MOX fuel is an alternative to the low-enriched uranium fuel used in the...

.

Public opinion concerning nuclear energy has remained positive in France. In Civaux

Civaux

Civaux is a commune in the Vienne department in the Poitou-Charentes region in western France....

, France, where a planned nuclear power plant

Nuclear power plant

was to be built, the people embraced the fact that their city was chosen as the site. Claude Mandil, the General Director for Energy and Raw Materials at the Minister of Industry , noted three primary reasons why the French people like nuclear power. First, the people of France enjoyed the independence from foreign energy. Second, they like large technological developments to occur in their country. Finally, the government instilled the benefits of nuclear energy into the people.

Germany

Nuclear power in Germany accounted for 23% of national electricity consumption, before the permanent shutdown of 8 plants in March 2011. German nuclear power began with research reactors in the 1950s and 1960s with the first commercial plant coming online in 1969. It has been high on the political agenda in recent decades, with continuing debates about when the technology should be phased out. The topic received renewed attention at the start of 2007 due to the political impact of the Russia-Belarus energy dispute

Russia-Belarus energy dispute

The Russia–Belarus energy dispute began when Russian state-owned gas supplier Gazprom demanded an increase in gas prices paid by Belarus, a country which has been closely allied with Moscow and forms a loose union state with Russia...

and in 2011 after the Fukushima I nuclear accidents.

On 30 May 2011, Germany formally announced plans to abandon nuclear energy completely within 11 years. The plan includes the immediate permanent closure of six nuclear power plants that had been temporarily shut down for testing in March 2011, and two more that have been offline a few years with technical problems. The remaining nine plants will be shut down between now and 2022. The announcement was first made by Norbert Röttgen, head of the Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, after late-night talks.

Chancellor

Chancellor of Germany

The Chancellor of Germany is, under the German 1949 constitution, the head of government of Germany...

Angela Merkel

Angela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a...

said the phase-out of plants, previously scheduled to go offline as late as 2036, would give Germany a competitive advantage in the renewable energy era, stating, "As the first big industrialized nation, we can achieve such a transformation toward efficient and renewable energies, with all the opportunities that brings for exports, developing new technologies and jobs". Merkel also pointed to Japan's "helplessness" – despite being an industrialized, technologically advanced nation – in the face of its nuclear disaster. Some German manufacturers and energy companies have criticized the plans, warning that Germany could face blackouts.

Italy

After the 1986 Chernobyl disaster Italy held a referendum, which supported shutting down Italy's four nuclear power plants. The construction of new reactors was halted and the last operating reactor was closed in 1990. In 1987, a moratorium on the construction of new nuclear plants was passed. Originally in effect until 1993, it had been extended until 2009. In 2004, a new energy law allowed joint ventures with foreign companies in relation to nuclear power plants and importing electricity from them. Following Silvio Berlusconi

Silvio Berlusconi

Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...

's victory in the 2008 election, Italy's industry minister announced that the government scheduled the construction to start the first new Italian nuclear-powered plant by 2013. On 24 February 2009, an agreement between France and Italy was signed according to which a study about the feasibility of building 4 new nuclear power plants in Italy to be conducted. On 9 July 2009 the Italian parliament passed a law on the establishment of a nuclear safety agency to be established by July 2010, and giving the government a task to select sites for new nuclear power plants. According to the 2010 Eurobarometer report only 20% of Italians support increase of the nuclear energy in the country's energy mix while 62% think that the share should be either maintained or reduced.

There was a uranium enrichment facility in Bosco Marengo

Bosco Marengo

Bosco Marengo is a town and comune in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 80 km southeast of Turin and about 12 km southeast of Alessandria....

but which is being decommissioned

Nuclear decommissioning

Nuclear decommissioning is the dismantling of a nuclear power plant and decontamination of the site to a state no longer requiring protection from radiation for the general public...

by Sogin, a spinoff of ENEL

Enel

Enel may refer to:*Enel SpA, an Italian electricity company*Enel , a fictional villain in the One Piece manga and anime series*Enel, meaning third in the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, cf. Awakening of the Elves...

Romania

Romania's 1,400 MW Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant

Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant

The Nuclear Power Plant in Cernavodă is the only nuclear power plant in Romania. It produces around 20% of the country's electricity. It uses CANDU reactor technology from AECL, using heavy water produced at Drobeta-Turnu Severin as its neutron moderator and water from the Danube – Black Sea Canal...

produces around 18 % of the nation's electrical power. It is based on Canadian technology and uses heavy water

Heavy water

Heavy water is water highly enriched in the hydrogen isotope deuterium; e.g., heavy water used in CANDU reactors is 99.75% enriched by hydrogen atom-fraction...

produced at Drobeta-Turnu Severin

Drobeta-Turnu Severin

Drobeta-Turnu Severin is a city in Mehedinţi County, Oltenia, Romania, on the left bank of the Danube, below the Iron Gates.The city administers three villages: Dudaşu Schelei, Gura Văii, and Schela Cladovei...

as its neutron moderator

Neutron moderator

In nuclear engineering, a neutron moderator is a medium that reduces the speed of fast neutrons, thereby turning them into thermal neutrons capable of sustaining a nuclear chain reaction involving uranium-235....

and water from the Danube

Danube

The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

for cooling. Two reactors are fully operational and another three are partially finished. When fully functional the plant will produce around 40 % of Romania's total electricity needs.

Currently, nuclear waste is stored at the reactors for up to ten years. Then the waste is transported to dry storage. The government has conducted studies into a permanent geological repository

Deep geological repository

A deep geological repository is a nuclear waste repository excavated deep within a stable geologic environment...

.

There are plans to construct a second nuclear power plant in Transylvania

Transylvania

Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...

after 2020.

Russia

Russia operates 31 reactors, is building 3, and has plans for another 27. Russia has also begun building floating nuclear power plants

Russian floating nuclear power station

Floating nuclear power stations are vessels projected by Rosatom that present self-contained, low-capacity, floating nuclear power plants...

. The £100 million ($204.9 million, 2 billion Rubles) vessel, the Lomonosov, to be completed in 2010, is the first of seven plants that Moscow says will bring vital energy resources to remote Russian regions. While producing only a small fraction of the power of a standard Russian land-based plant, it can supply power to a city of 200,000, or function as a desalination

Desalination

Desalination, desalinization, or desalinisation refers to any of several processes that remove some amount of salt and other minerals from saline water...

plant. The Rosatom, the state-owned nuclear energy company said that at least 12 countries were also interested in buying floating nuclear plants.

Spain

In 1964, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

began construction on its first of three nuclear reactors and completed construction in 1968.
Currently, Spain

Spain

has eight nuclear reactors producing 20% of the country’s electricity or 7,442 net MWe

MWE

MWE may refer to:*Manufacturer's Weight Empty*McDermott Will & Emery*Midwest Express, an airline*Merowe Airport - IATA code*Multiword expressionMWe may refer to:*Megawatt electrical...

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

began research into nuclear energy

Nuclear power

in 1947 with the establishment of the atomic energy research organization. In 1964, the country built its first small heavy water reactor

Heavy water reactor

. The country decided to use hydropower

Hydropower

Hydropower, hydraulic power, hydrokinetic power or water power is power that is derived from the force or energy of falling water, which may be harnessed for useful purposes. Since ancient times, hydropower has been used for irrigation and the operation of various mechanical devices, such as...

and supplement it with nuclear energy to avoid the volatility in oil prices. Six reactors began commercial service in both the 1970s and 1980s, with one unit closed in 1999 and another in 2005. Currently, Sweden has 10 nuclear power reactors which provide over 40% of its electricity. On 17 June 2010, the Swedish Parliament adopted a decision allowing starting from 1 January 2011 a replacement of the existing reactors with new nuclear reactors.

Switzerland

Switzerland has five nuclear reactors, and around 40% of its electricity is generated by nuclear power. The country has had several referenda

Referendum

A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...

on the nuclear energy, beginning in 1979 with a citizens' initiative

Initiative

In political science, an initiative is a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote...

for nuclear safety, which was rejected. In 1984, there was a vote on an initiative "for a future without further nuclear power stations" with the result being a 55% to 45% vote against. On 23 September 1990, the people passed a motion to halt the construction of nuclear power plants (for a moratorium

Moratorium (law)

A moratorium is a delay or suspension of an activity or a law. In a legal context, it may refer to the temporary suspension of a law to allow a legal challenge to be carried out....

period of ten years) but rejected a motion to initiate a phase-out. On 18 May 2003 a motion calling for an extension to this moratorium (for another ten years) and another asking again on the question of a phase-out, were both rejected. In May 2011 the government decided it will phase out all nuclear power plants in the next twenty years

Ukraine

Ukraine operates 15 reactors, which supply 47.5% of Ukraine's electricity production of 195 billion kWh (2007). Ukraine's power sector is the twelfth-largest in the world in terms of installed capacity, with 54 gigawatts (GW). In 2006, the government planned to build 11 new reactors

Nuclear reactor

A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...

by the year 2030, in effect, almost doubling the current amount of nuclear power capacity

Electricity

Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...

United Kingdom

The first full-scale nuclear reactor in Europe opened in Calder Hall, located in Cumberland

Cumberland

Cumberland is a historic county of North West England, on the border with Scotland, from the 12th century until 1974. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria....

, United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

on October 17, 1956. Calder Hall was the world’s first nuclear power reactor producing power for a national grid, though its primary purpose was military plutonium production. At its peak, Calder Hall produced 240 MWe

MWE

MWE may refer to:*Manufacturer's Weight Empty*McDermott Will & Emery*Midwest Express, an airline*Merowe Airport - IATA code*Multiword expressionMWe may refer to:*Megawatt electrical...

of electricity. Over the next ten years, nine more nuclear reactors were built across the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

. The UK has decommissioned nearly all of its first generation Magnox

Magnox

Magnox is a now obsolete type of nuclear power reactor which was designed and is still in use in the United Kingdom, and was exported to other countries, both as a power plant, and, when operated accordingly, as a producer of plutonium for nuclear weapons...

reactors. Recently, the UK privatized its nuclear energy

Nuclear power

industry but government oversight remains. As of 2010, the United Kingdom has 19 reactors generating 18% of the country’s electricity. By current accounting lifetimes all but one of them will be decommissioned by 2023, though many are likely to be life-extended. The government is encouraging the building of new generation plants as replacements. Currently, the reactors have a net capacity of 10,962 MWe

MWE

MWE may refer to:*Manufacturer's Weight Empty*McDermott Will & Emery*Midwest Express, an airline*Merowe Airport - IATA code*Multiword expressionMWe may refer to:*Megawatt electrical...

Canada

Canada operates 18 reactors accounting for about 15% of electrical generation, mostly in the province of Ontario. Increasing demands for electricity and Kyoto Agreement obligations have led Ontario to announce that it will maintain existing nuclear capacity by replacing older reactors with new ones.

Mexico

Mexico has one nuclear power plant

Laguna Verde nuclear power plant

Laguna Verde Nuclear Power Plant is located on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, in Alto Lucero, Veracruz, Mexico. It is the largest nuclear power plant in Mexico and produces about 4.5% of the country's electrical energy. LVNPP has an original installed capacity of 1,365 megawatts...

, which consists of two boiling water reactors. In February 2007, contracts with Iberdrola

Iberdrola

Iberdrola , headquartered in Bilbao, is a private utility with a global footprint and over 150 years of experience...

and Alstom

Alstom

Alstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...

were signed to update the reactors by 2010. A committee has been established to recommend on new nuclear plants and the most recent proposal is for one unit to come on line by 2015 with seven more to follow it by 2025.

After a time was thought to stop the use of nuclear energy then Mexico finally decided in 2007 by repowering the Laguna Verde Nuclear Power Station, which has two reactors of 683MW each, after the upgrading, reactors are increase their production to 817MW each, accounting 4.8% of the electricity production. On May 14, 2010 Energy Secretary Georgina Kessel announced that Mexico provides full development of nuclear energy in its energy mix as an alternative to discourage the use of fossil fuels and increase the generation of clean electricity.

In November 2011, Mexico abandoned plans to build as many as 10 new nuclear reactors and will focus instead on natural gas-fired electricity plants after boosting discoveries of the fuel.

United States

In 2007, there were 104 (69 pressurized water reactors, 35 boiling water reactors) commercial nuclear generating units licensed to operate in the United States, producing approximately 20% of the country's electrical energy needs. In absolute terms, the United States is the world's largest supplier of commercial nuclear power. However, the development of nuclear power in the United States has been stymied ever since the Three Mile Island nuclear accident

Three Mile Island accident

The Three Mile Island accident was a core meltdown in Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania near Harrisburg, United States in 1979....

in 1979. Future development of nuclear power in the U.S. was to be enabled by the Energy Policy Act of 2005

Energy Policy Act of 2005

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 is a bill passed by the United States Congress on July 29, 2005, and signed into law by President George W. Bush on August 8, 2005, at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico...

and co-ordinated by the Nuclear Power 2010 Program

Nuclear Power 2010 Program

The "Nuclear Power 2010 Program" was unveiled by the U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham on February 14, 2002 as one means towards addressing the expected need for new power plants...

, but many license applications filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 from the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and was first opened January 19, 1975...

for proposed new reactors have been suspended or cancelled.

As of October 2011, plans for about 30 new reactors in the United States have been "whittled down to just four, despite the promise of large subsidies and President Barack Obama’s support of nuclear power, which he reaffirmed after Fukushima". The only reactor currently under construction in America, at Watts Bar

Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station

The Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station is a Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear reactor used for electric power generation and tritium production for nuclear weapons. It is located on a 1,770-acre site in Rhea County, Tennessee, near Spring City, between the cities of Chattanooga and Knoxville...

, Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

, was begun in 1973 and may be completed in 2012. Matthew Wald from the New York Times has reported that "the nuclear renaissance

Nuclear renaissance

Since about 2001 the term nuclear renaissance has been used to refer to a possible nuclear power industry revival, driven by rising fossil fuel prices and new concerns about meeting greenhouse gas emission limits. At the same time, various barriers to a nuclear renaissance have been identified...

is looking small and slow".

In 2008, the Energy Information Administration

Energy Information Administration

The U.S. Energy Information Administration is the statistical and analytical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy. EIA collects, analyzes, and disseminates independent and impartial energy information to promote sound policymaking, efficient markets, and public understanding of energy and...

projected almost 17 gigawatts of new nuclear power reactors by 2030, but in its 2011 projections, it "scaled back the 2030 projection to just five". A survey conducted in April 2011 found that 64 percent of Americans opposed the construction of new nuclear reactors. A survey sponsored by the Nuclear Energy Institute

Nuclear Energy Institute

The Nuclear Energy Institute is a nuclear industry lobbying group in the United States.- Synopsis :According to its website, the NEI "develops policy on key legislative and regulatory issues affecting the industry. NEI then serves as a unified industry voice before the U.S...

, conducted in September 2011, found that "62 percent of respondents said they favor the use of nuclear energy as one of the ways to provide electricity in the United States, with 35 percent opposed".

Australia

Australia has no nuclear power plants. However, Australia has up to 40% of the world's uranium deposits and is the world's second largest producer of uranium

Uranium

Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...

after Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. At the same time Australia's extensive, low-cost coal

Coal

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

and natural gas

Natural gas

Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

reserves have historically been used as strong arguments for avoiding nuclear power.

In 2005, the Australian government threatened to use its constitution

Constitution

A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...

al powers to take control of the approval process for new mines

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

from the anti-nuclear

Anti-nuclear

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

government. They are also negotiating with China to weaken safeguard terms so as to allow uranium exports there. States controlled by the Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

are blocking the development of new mines in their jurisdictions under the ALP's "No New Mines policy."

John Howard

John Howard

John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....

went to the November 2007 federal election with a pro-nuclear power platform but his government was defeated by Labor, which opposes nuclear power for Australia.

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

has no nuclear power plants. It enacted the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987
New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987
The New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act is a New Zealand law passed by the Fourth Labour Government in 1987 "to establish in New Zealand a Nuclear Free Zone, to promote and encourage an active and effective contribution by New Zealand to the essential process of...

which prohibits the stationing of nuclear weapons on the territory of New Zealand and the entry into New Zealand waters of nuclear armed or propelled

Nuclear marine propulsion

Nuclear marine propulsion is propulsion of a ship by a nuclear reactor. Naval nuclear propulsion is propulsion that specifically refers to naval warships...

ships. This Act of Parliament, however, does not prevent the construction of nuclear power plants. A 2008 survey shows that relatively few New Zealanders favour nuclear power as the best energy source.

List

Kenya

South Africa

Bangladesh

China

Gulf states

India

Indonesia

Iran

Israel

Japan

Jordan

Kazakhstan

North Korea

South Korea

Malaysia

Myanmar

Pakistan

Syria

Taiwan

Thailand

Vietnam

Yemen

Albania

Bulgaria

Czech Republic

Finland

France

Germany

Italy

Romania

Russia

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Ukraine

United Kingdom

Canada

Mexico

United States

Australia

New Zealand

See also

Further reading