Nuclear power by country

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A nuclear power plant at Cattenom in France. France produces 80% of its electricity by nuclear power.^[1]

Nuclear power is a method for generating energy by harnessing the radioactivity of atoms. Nuclear fission occurs when any fissile material, such as uranium-235, an isotope of uranium, is concentrated. This causes a nuclear chain reaction, which releases large amounts of heat, boiling water and producing steam, which can drive a steam turbine.

Although nuclear power generates many megawatts of energy, the waste produced and risks often make it a controversial choice. As a result, different nations have very different attitudes towards nuclear power; some, such as France, generate most of their electricity by nuclear power, while others, such as Italy, have decommissioned, or are planning to decommission, all of their nuclear power stations.

In addition to the nations listed below, several other nations, such as Australia, have research reactors, but no plans to diverge into commercial nuclear power; only the commercial reactors registered with the International Atomic Energy Agency are listed below. Nations are listed first by number of reactors, then by peak power output in megawatts. Regions in italics are added for comparison.

The status of nuclear power globally. Nations in dark green have reactors and are constructing new reactors, those in light green are constructing their first reactor, those in dark yellow are considering new reactors, those in light yellow are considering their first reactor, those in blue have reactors but are not constructing or decommissioning, those in light blue are considering decommissioning and those in red have decommissioned all their commercial reactors.

Country	Number of reactors ^[2]	Power output MW ^[1]	Status of nuclear program ^[1]	Constructing	Planned or Ordered	Proposed
World	442	370721		28	62	160
European Union	147	130267		2		7
United States of America (details), (List)	104	99209		1		13
France (details)	59	63363		1		1
Japan (details)	55	47593		1	1
Russia (details)	31	21743		4	1	8
United Kingdom (details)	23	11852	Legal challenge to expansion underway[1]
South Korea	20	16810			8
Canada (details)	18	12599			2
Germany	17	20339	Considering decommissioning
India	16	3557		7	4	20
Ukraine	15	13107			2
Sweden (details)	10	8910	Stable
People's Republic of China	10	7572		5	5	19
Spain	8	7446	Stable ^[3]
Belgium	7	5824	Considering decommissioning
Taiwan (Republic of China)	6	4884		2
Czech Republic	6	3368				2
Slovakia	6	2442				2
Switzerland	5	3220	Stable
Bulgaria (details)	4	2722			2
Finland (details)	4	2676		1
Hungary	4	1755	Stable
Brazil	2	1901			1
South Africa	2	1842			1	24
Mexico	2	1310				2
Argentina	2	935		1
Pakistan	2	425		1		2
Lithuania (details)	1	1185				1 ^[a]
Slovenia	1	656	Stable
Romania (details)	1	655		1	2	1
Netherlands	1	449	Stable
Armenia	1	376				1
Iran	0	0		1	2	3
North Korea	0	0		4 ^[b]
Turkey	0	0			3
Indonesia	0	0				4
Vietnam	0	0				2
Egypt	0	0				1
Israel	0	0				1
Poland	0	0				1^[4]

[edit] Notes

^a One of the conditions of Lithuania's entry into the European Union was that the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, Lithuania's only nuclear plant, be closed on safety grounds. As a result, Lithuania has proposed a replacement to be built on the same site.^[5]
^b North Korea has four incomplete reactors, two frozen in 1994 under the U.S.-North Korea Agreed Framework, and two under construction by KEDO until suspended in 2003. An experimental 5MWe reactor is operating at the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center.