Worldwide nuclear stagnates

October 10, 2013 | By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

Expansion of nuclear power generating capacity has slowed considerably -- just 75 GW were added in the last 25 years, compared to 296 GW during the preceding quarter century, according to Worldwatch Institute. Today, nuclear power is the only mainstream energy technology that does not show significant growth with its share of global primary energy supply falling from 6.4 percent in 2002 to just 4.5 percent in 2012.

Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant. Credit: NRC/Wikimedia Commons

Last year, global nuclear generation capacity increased by 4.2 GW, or 1.1 percent, to 373.1 GW, according to Worldwatch Institute, and the number of operational nuclear reactors increased by two units to a total of 437 worldwide.

Although nuclear power is dispersed widely worldwide, it is most heavily used in industrialized countries. Of the 10 nations with the highest nuclear power production, eight are industrialized countries in addition to China and South Korea. China has led the world in capacity additions in recent years, and its 3.1 GW of new capacity accounted for 45 percent of global starts in 2012, according to Worldwatch.

With 102.1 GW capacity and 104 reactors, the United States remains the world's leading producer of nuclear power. In France, however, the share of nuclear in overall power production is higher -- 58 reactors contribute 75 percent of the country's electricity supply, compared with 19 percent in the United States.

Worldwide, construction began on seven new reactors during 2012, with total planned capacity of 6.9 GW, well short of the 15.8 GW of capacity that went online in 2010, when start-ups surged. Worldwide, some 67 nuclear reactors with a total capacity of 64.3 GW are currently being built. However, seven of these have now been under construction for more than 20 years, suggesting that their completion is doubtful, according to Worldwatch.

"Three key factors account for the stagnancy of nuclear power. The first and most important one is that nuclear energy is not cost competitive with fossil fuels and renewable energy sources. It is just too expensive," said Alexander Ochs, Worldwatch's climate and energy director. "Second are safety concerns. After the many accidents we have had over the years-with Chernobyl, Fukushima, and Three Mile Island, just a few examples of some of the worst incidents, problems occur on a regular basis. And despite stricter oversight in some countries, public opposition to nuclear energy is high almost everywhere in the world. Finally, the storage of nuclear waste still remains unsolved. Nobody really knows what to do with it and nobody wants to have the hazardous material sit in their backyard."

Prior to the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Japan generated 30 percent of its electricity from nuclear power-a share that was expected to increase to 40 percent by 2017; instead, all reactors are currently offline. Apart from the ongoing ecological issues around Fukushima, water leaks in France and Taiwan and radiation leaks in the United States have contributed to public concern over the technology.

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