As in 2008, 439 nuclear reactors are operational worldwide, spread throughout some thirty countries, including 15 OECD members. 42 reactors are under construction and 5 are in phase of dismantling. Of the 16 reactors whose construction was started in 2007 or 2008, 6 are situated in China, 4 in South Korea and 3 in Russia .
Nuclear energy is an energy that requires a high level of technology and a major initial investment capacity.
At present, therefore, it has essentially been developed in the industrialised countries: Western Europe, the ex-Soviet Union, North America and Japan. But it is progressing in emerging countries such as China, whose energy requirements are enormous. China has purchased nuclear power plants, in particular from France: France has constructed 2 plants, at Daya Bay and Ling Ao, and has trained Chinese personnel in their operation and management.
Such technology transfer allows developing countries access to this source of energy. But the international community sometimes views with misgivings the efforts of certain politically-unstable countries, or those fiercely opposed to American hegemony, to move towards nuclear energy! The risk of nuclear proliferation for military purposes is always present and terrorist threats against these plants can impact on whole populations.
Nuclear energy represents only 7% of the primary energy and 15% of the electricity produced worldwide. In many countries, electricity from nuclear energy represents a very small percentage of national production. France is an exception: at the end of the 70’s, the country opted for major development in nuclear energy, which is today responsible for almost 80% of its electricity production. In the OECD countries, this percentage is on average around 25%. In the emerging countries, the percentage should progress in the coming years, making it possible to meet the enormous energy requirements of these countries, a growing part of whose populations are seeing a rapid increase in their standard of living.
The choice of nuclear energy is currently under question in a certain number of countries: Belgium, Germany, and Sweden. These countries, under the pressure of public opinion, have been forced to give an undertaking to close reactors more or less progressively. They will have to replace this energy by other means of production, which will allow them to respect the Kyoto undertakings concerning emissions of greenhouse gases. This will not be easy and certain forecasters believe that these countries will shortly reverse policy and re-launch nuclear energy development. |