ABSTRACT
In 1987 there were in the world 418 nuclear reactors capable of producing commercially useful supplies of electricity. Conversely, Western Europe produces over 20 per cent of its electricity by nuclear means and the amount of nuclear energy produced stands comparison with that provided by the continent's much larger installed hydroelectric power generating capacity. The proportion of total electricity supplies produced is one useful guide to the importance of nuclear power stations within the framework of national and continental energy supplies; another is the amount of nuclear generating capacity installed and in operation. Decisions to build many of the world's existing nuclear power stations were taken during a period of very rapid growth in world primary energy requirements, which lasted from 1950 to the first major oil price rise by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 1973, and when forecasts from authoritative sources were predicting an enormous demand for energy by the end of the century.
