ABSTRACT
There are a number of different categories of countries in relation to civil nuclear power. This chapter discusses the environments in which nuclear is being deployed, or where it may be deployed in the future.
A decision by a country to adopt nuclear or otherwise is driven by political, economic, environmental and social factors. Technical capacity and an establishing of the appropriate nuclear safety culture over the long term are key enablers for the industry. Some countries that have civil nuclear power need large volumes of electricity to underpin their economic development; other countries focus on the security of supply, or low-carbon attributes, or both.
Many of the countries that wish to adopt civil nuclear power may be better suited to develop their renewable resources; the technologies to exploit these resources have matured significantly over the last 20 years.
Careful consideration of all the factors is important before nuclear is deployed. Nonetheless, some factors, such as technical capacity and planning for the long term, are more important than others.
What is harder to establish is whether an effective and enduring nuclear safety culture can be adopted, primarily for plant operations, but also in key activities beyond the site.
