Lots of plans and tests - but no electricity being generated. New nuclear power is all talk and no electricity.
Jaak (nuclear engineer)
Except for places like China and India and much of the rest of Asia. And given China’s Belt/Road policy I wouldn’t be surprised if Africa joins that list.
Nuclear power is in the ascendancy in the places where most of the world’s population live and where the demand for energy is growing fastest. This is a big reason why there is still some hope for mitigating the worst of climate change.
- China is building some nuclear power plants, but most of their efforts are going in coal, renewables (which includes hydro) and natural gas.
- India is hardly building any nuclear power plants - they are building mostly renewables, coal and natural gas.
- Japan is still way behind in restarting all the shutdown nuclear units. They are nothing thinking about new nuclear. They are still burning lots of fossil fuels.
- Korea is building some nuclear, but other forms of power generation are leading their efforts .
The point is that China, India, Japan, Korea, and most of the world in fact are in broad agreement that they cannot get to net zero in the time required to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change without a significant and much-higher-than-today contribution from nuclear energy.
That’s why one of the major results of Cop28 was a declaration to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050. At COP28, Countries Launch Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy Capacity by 2050, Recognizing the Key Role of Nuclear Energy in Reaching Net Zero | Department of Energy.
That’s why nuclear energy globally is accelerating. It has to.
Show us the data that nuclear is accelerating in the real world. I do not see any acceleration.
That’s what everyone agrees but the commitment isn’t there.
In 2024 “About 60 power reactors are currently being constructed in 16 countries.*” Nuclear reactors under construction worldwide 2025| Statista
China has 21 nuclear reactors under construction which will have a capacity for generating 21.61 gigawatts of electricity, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. How China became the king of new nuclear power, and how the U.S. is trying to stage a comeback
India currently has eight nuclear reactors under construction with 10 more approved. India approves installation of 10 new nuclear reactors in five states - India Today
In addition to the 50-60 under construction, another "110 power reactors with a total gross capacity of about 114 GWe are planned, and over 300 more are proposed. Most reactors currently planned are in countries in Asia, characterized by fast-growing economies and rapidly-rising electricity demand. "* Plans For New Reactors Worldwide - World Nuclear Association
Seems like both acceleration and commitment to me.
Your numbers do not includes the reactors that will be shutdown in the next 25 years. Your numbers do not show that China only gets 5% and India only gets 3% of their electricity from nuclear power.
China has 55 reactors in operation and 23 in construction
India has 20 small reactors in operation and 7 in construction
China and India are adding more fossil and renewables than nuclear every year.
Japan has 12 reactors in operation and 2 in construction
Korea has 26 reactors in operation and 2 in construction
I see no acceleration in global nuclear power. Nuclear is currently providing 10% of world electricity and it will remain at 10% from 2024 to 2050 because many old reactors will be shutdown in the next 25 years.