Nuclear Technology Review 2014

With 434 nuclear power reactors in operation worldwide at the end of 2013, nuclear energy had a global generating capacity of 371.7 GW(e). There were four new grid connections and ten construction starts on new reactors. Belarus became the second nuclear 'newcomer' State in three decades to start building its first nuclear power plant. Near and long term growth prospects remained centred in Asia, particularly in China. The 72 reactors under construction in 2013 represented the highest number since 1989. Of these, 48 were in Asia, as were 42 of the last 52 new reactors to have been connected to the grid since 2000. Thirty States currently use nuclear power and about the same number are considering including it as part of their energy mix. Of the 30 States already operating nuclear power plants, 13 are either constructing new plants or actively completing previously suspended constructions, and 12 are planning to either construct new plants or to complete suspended constructions. The IAEA Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Power in the 21st Century, held in June 2013, reaffirmed that nuclear power remains an important option for many States to improve energy security, reduce the impact of volatile fossil fuels prices and mitigate the effects of climate change. The Concluding Statement said that "nuclear power, as a stable base-load source of electricity in an era of ever increasing global energy demands, complements other energy sources including renewables." In the IAEA's 2013 projections, nuclear power is expected to grow by between 17% as the low projection and 94% as the high projection by 2030. These figures are slightly lower than projected in 2012, reflecting the continued impact of the Fukushima Daiichi accident, the low prices of natural gas and the increasing use of renewable energy. Additional information focuses on the linkages between nuclear power and climate change, as nuclear power, hydropower and wind energy have the lowest life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions among all the power generation sources. The implementation of the IAEA Action Plan on Nuclear Safety remained at the core of the actions that were taken by Member States, the Secretariat and other relevant stakeholders to strengthen safety. Safety improvements continue to be made at nuclear power plants, including by applying lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi accident. This has contributed to strengthening the global nuclear safety framework. As sharing and transferring knowledge is critical for the safe and efficient management of any nuclear activity, additional information dedicated to nuclear knowledge management is available