The top 10 nuclear power countries
All week we have looked at various different aspects of nuclear power generation. Today lets look at some top 10 nuclear power countries based on different categories: Percentage of national power generated from nuclear reactors, Largest number of nuclear reactors, Largest number of nuclear reactors shut down, Largest number of new nuclear reactors and MW planned, and Most energy power capacity.
To find the information that we want, there are several places that we can start but the three that will be used in this article are the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), and the World Nuclear Association(WNA). All three are international organizations that support the peaceful use of nuclear power. The WNA has the most recent figures with statistics for 2010. Both the NEI and IAEA have figures from 2008 with the NEI having some statistics for 2009
According to all three, the ten countries in 2008 and 2010 with the highest percentage of national power generated from nuclear reactors is:
| Country | Percentage | |
| 1 | France | 76.2 |
| 2 | Lithuania | 72.9 |
| 3 | Slovakia | 56.4 |
| 4 | Belgium | 53.8 |
| 5 | Ukraine | 47.4 |
| 6 | Sweden | 42.0 |
| 7 | Slovenia | 41.7 |
| 8 | Armenia | 39.4 |
| 9 | Switzerland | 39.2 |
| 10 | Hungary | 37.2 |
The top ten countries by number of nuclear reactors:
| Country | Number of Reactors in 2008 |
Percentage of energy from nuclear power | Number of Reactors in 2010 | Percentage of energy from nuclear power | |
| 1 | US | 104 | 19.7 | 104 | 19.7 |
| 2 | France | 59 | 76,2 | 58 | 76.2 |
| 3 | Japan | 53 | 24.9 | 54 | 24.9 |
| 4 | Russia | 31 | 16.9 | 31 | 16.9 |
| 5 | S. Korea | 20 | 35.6 | 20 | 35.6 |
| 6 | UK | 19 | 13.5 | 19 | 47.4 |
| 7 | Canada | 18 | 14.8 | 18 | 14.9 |
| 8 | India | 17 | 2 | 18 | 2 |
| 9 | Germany | 17 | 28.8 | 17 | 28.3 |
| 10 | Ukraine | 15 | 47.4 | 15 | 47.4 |
The top ten countries by nuclear reactor shut down in 2010:
| Country | Number of reactors shut down | Number of MW taken off line | |
| 1 | US | 28 | 9764 |
| 2 | UK | 26 | 3324 |
| 3 | Germany | 19 | 5879 |
| 4 | France | 11 | 3798 |
| 5 | Russian Fed. | 5 | 786 |
| 6 | Japan | 5 | 1618 |
| 7 | Italy | 4 | 1423 |
| 8 | Ukraine | 4 | 3515 |
| 9 | Bulgaria | 4 | 1632 |
| 10 | Sweden | 3 | 1225 |
The top ten countries by new nuclear reactors and MW planned and under construction in 2010:
| Country | Number of new reactors planned | Number of MW planned | |
| 1 | China | 37 | 38,360 |
| 2 | India | 23 | 21,500 |
| 3 | Japan | 13 | 17,915 |
| 4 | US | 11 | 13,800 |
| 5 | Russian Fed. | 7 | 8,000 |
| 6 | South Korea | 6 | 8,190 |
| 7 | UK | 4 | 6,600 |
| 8 | UAE | 4 | 5,600 |
| 9 | Canada | 4 | 4,400 |
| 10 | South Africa | 3 | 3,565 |
The top ten countries by number of MW generated in 2010:
| Country | MW from nuclear power | |
| 1 | US | 101,119 |
| 2 | France | 63,236 |
| 3 | Japan | 47,104 |
| 4 | Russia | 21,743 |
| 5 | Germany | 20,339 |
| 6 | S. Korea | 17,716 |
| 7 | Ukraine | 13,168 |
| 8 | Canada | 12,652 |
| 9 | UK | 11,035 |
| 10 | Sweden | 9,399 |
As the above tables show, percentage of national power generated does not mean the most nuclear reactors or the greatest number of MW generated. Just as the US has the greatest number of nuclear reactors currently generating power, it also has the most nuclear reactors shutdown. China and India are both planning to build considerably more nuclear reactors than any other country, but the power needs of both countries is growing much faster than those of most other countries.
Regardless of how anyone feels about nuclear energy, it provides the main source of power for several countries around the world. When those reactors are shut down due to age or malfunction, it will be hard to replace the energy generated by those reactors with only one source of power.
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