ABSTRACT
Nuclear energy is an important part of our current global energy system, and contributes to supplying a significant percentage of the electricity for many nations around the world. There are 433 commercial nuclear power reactors operating in 30 countries, with an installed capacity of 367 GWe as of October 2011 (IAEA PRIS 2011). Nuclear electricity generation totaled 2630 TWh in 2010, representing 14% the world’s electricity generation. The top five countries of total installed nuclear capacity are the United States, France, Japan, Russia, and South Korea at 102, 63, 45, 24, and 21 GWe, respectively (WNA 2012a). The nuclear capacity of these five countries represents two-thirds of the total global nuclear capacity.
