In 2024, about 440 nuclear power reactors were operating in 32 countries plus Taiwan with a combined capacity of about 390 gigawatts (GW) that supplied about one-tenth of the world’s electricity, down from about 17% in the mid-1990s.1 The quantity of electricity generated from nuclear power today is about the same as 20 years ago, a plateau that followed more than three decades of steady growth.
The leading generators of electricity are the United States, China, France, Russia, and South Korea. The United States accounts for about 30% of global electricity generation from nuclear power and produces nearly twice as much as China. Ten countries account for 83% of global nuclear generation.
France leads the world in the utilization of nuclear power (63% of total generation) followed by Slovakia (59%), Hungary (44% ), Belgium (46% ), and Slovenia (42%). China’s first nuclear actors were connected to the grid in the early 1990s, and since then nuclear power has grown to a 5% share of total electricity generation. China leads the world in new reactor construction to reduce air pollution from coal-fired generation, improve energy security, and sustain economic growth.
Before the Russian invasion in 2022, Ukraine supplied more than 50% of its electricity from 15 operable nuclear reactors at four plants. Since the conflict started the number of units operated has fluctuated, with reactors put online and taken offline depending on the situation around the plants and the stability of external power supplies.2
1 World Nuclear Association, “Plans For New Reactors Worldwide,” June 27, 2024, https://tinyurl.com/2s3u42wz
2 World Nuclear Association, “Ukraine: Russia-Ukraine War and Nuclear Energy,” updated April 15, 2024, https://tinyurl.com/yjnmvfay
