World nuclear power capacity grew in 2012

• 11 years ago (2013-03-06)
• David Flin

Asia 848 Europe 1061 Middle East 310 North America 998 Nuclear 640

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The world’s nuclear power generation capacity grew again in 2012, after a drop in 2011 in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, according to the 2013 Nuclear Technology Review, a draft report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA said: “The Fukushima Daiichi accident is expected to slow or delay the growth of nuclear power, but not reverse it.”

At the end of 2012, 437 nuclear power reactors were operating worldwide, two more than in 2011, with three new ones connected to the grid, two back on line after repairs, and three permanently shut down. In 2011, after what was the world’s worst accident in 25 years, 13 reactors were permanently shut down, including eight in Germany and four in Japan, although there were seven new grid connections.

In 2012, nuclear power’s total generation capacity rose by 3.7 GW to 372.5 GW. This compares to a drop of 7 GW in 2011. The report states that construction work started on seven new reactors in 2012, four in China, and one each in South Korea, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates. Three reactors were declared permanently shut down in 2012 – one in Canada, and two in Britain more than 40 years old. In total, 67 reactors are currently under construction, 47 of them in Asia.

Overall, the IAEA forecasts growth of anywhere between 23 per cent and 100 per cent in nuclear power capacity by 2030.