Electricity generated from the heat of controlled nuclear fission, almost always of uranium fuel in a moderated reactor. From the first grid-connected plant in 1954, nuclear power grew to supply roughly a tenth of world electricity, carbon-free at the point of generation, with its history marked by the accidents at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima and by unresolved questions of waste and cost.
Facts
Source Class First Commercial YearThe Obninsk plant in the Soviet Union delivered the first nuclear electricity to a public grid in June 1954; Calder Hall in England, 1956, is often cited as the first industrial-scale nuclear station. Connections
Associated With
Source World Nuclear News
Source World Nuclear Association Information Library
Source Encyclopedia Britannica
Source World Nuclear Association Information Library
Co-discovered nuclear fission with Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner, 1938.
Source World Nuclear Association Information Library
Source International Atomic Energy Agency Official Site
Lise Meitner, Pioneers Co-discovered nuclear fission with Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann, 1938.
The science of radioactivity she founded is the root of nuclear energy; she did not work on reactors, which came after her death.
Source Encyclopedia Britannica
Source Oak Ridge National Laboratory Site
Otto Hahn, Pioneers Discovered nuclear fission of uranium with Fritz Strassmann and Lise Meitner, 1938.
Source World Nuclear Association Information Library
Source World Nuclear Association Information Library
DOE stewards the US civilian and defense nuclear energy programs, successor to the Atomic Energy Commission under the 1977 DOE Organization Act.
Source World Nuclear Association Information Library
Open Questions
Used By
Nuclear power plant construction project, Mersin Province, Turkey, built by Rosatom.
Nuclear power plant construction project, Al Dhafra, United Arab Emirates, the first nuclear plant in the Arab world.
Source World Nuclear Association Information Library
Pressurized heavy water reactor station, Tiverton, Ontario, Canada, the largest operating nuclear facility in the world by unit count.
Source World Nuclear Association Information Library
RBMK reactor station, Ukraine, site of the 1986 accident; Reactor 4 is entombed, the site is decommissioning.
Boiling water reactor station, Fukushima, Japan, site of the 2011 accident; the plant is in decommissioning.
Nuclear power station construction project, Somerset, United Kingdom, two EPR reactors.
Source World Nuclear Association Information Library
Source Teollisuuden Voima Official Site
EPR reactor construction project, Olkiluoto, Finland, connected to the grid in 2022 after prolonged delays.
Source Maricopa County Official Site
1974 French national program to rapidly expand nuclear power generation following the oil crisis.
Source World Nuclear Association Information Library
Source World Nuclear Association Information Library
Every operating nuclear power plant generates through steam turbines.
Source World Nuclear Association Information Library
Source United States Energy Information Administration Official Site
AP1000 reactor construction project at Plant Vogtle, Georgia, United States, completed 2023-2024.
Source World Nuclear Association Information Library
Sources
1. United States Energy Information Administration Official Site
US Energy Information AdministrationUsed By: Vogtle Units 3 and 4, Today in Energy, Vogtle Unit 4 commercial operationQuote, Used By: Vogtle Units 3 and 4, Today in Energy, Vogtle Unit 4 commercial operation
Both Vogtle Units 3 and 4 use a newer reactor design, the Westinghouse AP1000
2. World Nuclear Association Information Library
World Nuclear AssociationAssociated With: Thorium, Information Library, Thorium, Developing a thorium-based fuel cycle
Uranium is abundant and cheap and forms only a small part of the cost of nuclear electricity generation, so there are no real incentives for investment in a new fuel type
Used By: Boiling Water Reactor, Information Library, Nuclear Power Reactors, Boiling water reactor (BWR)
A BWR fuel assembly comprises 90-100 fuel rods, and there are up to 750 assemblies in a reactor core.
Used By: Small Modular Reactor, Information Library, Small Nuclear Power Reactors
A few small reactors are already in operation and there are dozens of designs in development.
Used By: Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Country Profiles, Ukraine, Nuclear industry development
the largest nuclear power station in Europe, with a net capacity of 5700 MWe.
Associated With: Uranium, Revival of the nuclear boiler
in June 1954 the world's first nuclear powered electricity generator began operation at the FEI in Obninsk.
Used By: CANDU Reactor, Nuclear Power in Canada
Candu (Canada deuterium uranium) reactor in the late 1950s.
View the Source Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.- Associated With: Marie Curie
- Associated With: Enrico Fermi
View the Source International Atomic Energy Agency Official Site
International Atomic Energy AgencyAssociated With: International Atomic Energy AgencyView the Source World Nuclear News
World Nuclear AssociationAssociated With: Calder Hall Opens, UK marks 60th anniversary of Calder HallQuote, Associated With: Calder Hall Opens, UK marks 60th anniversary of Calder Hall
Although Magnox reactors were initially dual-purposed, combining power generation with plutonium production for military purposes, the latter function from 1964 was confined to other facilities at Windscale.
Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: EDF, Electricite de France, Nuclear
56 active nuclear reactors in France...spread out over 18 sites
Associated With: Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, lead
Much of the current knowledge of nuclear reactor behavior was discovered at this remote facility.
View the Source Oak Ridge National Laboratory Site
Oak Ridge National LaboratoryAssociated With: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Decades of DiscoveryQuote, Associated With: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Decades of Discovery
The Manhattan Project researchers accomplished that mission. Clinton Laboratories, or X-10, then began a rapid evolution into a research laboratory.
Maricopa County Official Site
Maricopa County ArizonaUsed By: Palo Verde Generating Station, PVGS public information pageQuote, Used By: Palo Verde Generating Station, PVGS public information page
considered the largest nuclear energy facility in the United States
Teollisuuden Voima Official Site
Teollisuuden Voima OyjUsed By: Olkiluoto 3, Releases 2023, Regular electricity production has started at Olkiluoto 3Quote, Used By: Olkiluoto 3, Releases 2023, Regular electricity production has started at Olkiluoto 3
Europe's largest nuclear power plant unit
Open Questions (1 open question)
When will deep geological disposal of high-level nuclear waste become operational at scale?
Finland's Onkalo repository, the furthest advanced in the world, remains without an operating licence as of early 2026, with the regulator STUK's decision delayed until the end of June 2026, while the United States shelved its Yucca Mountain repository in 2010 after decades of preparation and billions of dollars of investment, with no replacement site designated since. No country has yet begun routine operation of a deep geological repository for high-level waste, so estimates of when this technology will be proven at scale rest on regulatory and political timelines as much as engineering ones.
What would resolve this Onkalo receiving its operating licence and beginning waste emplacement, or a comparable repository elsewhere reaching the same milestone, would establish a real-world operating timeline rather than a projected one.
Nuclear engineering and geology, together with energy policyWikipedia
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