Newly released nuclear power data for 2023 collected by the IAEA, paint a picture of a clean energy technology at a crossroads amid the emergence of a new global consensus to accelerate its deployment.
Electricity production from nuclear power rose by 2.6 per cent last year compared to 2022, according to the operating data provided by IAEA Member States to the Power Reactor Information System (PRIS) - the IAEA's comprehensive and publicly available database on nuclear power. Nuclear power continued to generate almost 10 percent of the world's electricity and a quarter of all low carbon electricity last year, according to the data, which are featured in two newly released annual IAEA publications: Nuclear Power Reactors in the World (RDS-2) and Operating Experience with Nuclear Power Stations in Member States (OPEX).
The USA remained the world's top producer of nuclear electricity, followed by China and France. China continued to lead in newbuilds, beginning construction on five reactors. Newcomer Egypt started building its second reactor, according to the data, which showed the global fleet operating at nearly full strength with a median capacity factor of 88 per cent. While new grid connections were made at nuclear power plants in Belarus, China, Republic of Korea, Slovakia and the United States of America, reactors were shut down in Belgium, China and Germany.
The 2023 data come against the backdrop of growing global ambitions for nuclear technology amid an aging reactor fleet. More than two-thirds of reactors are at least 30 years old. In December 2023, in the historic first Global Stocktake at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, the 198 signatory countries to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change called for accelerating the deployment of low-emission energy technologies including nuclear power for deep and rapid decarbonization, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors such as industry. In addition, more than 20 countries at COP28 pledged to work towards tripling global nuclear power capacity to reach net zero by 2050.
"IAEA data shows the global fleet of nuclear reactors continues to be a large and indispensable source of low-carbon electricity," said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi. "But it's also clear that we will need to extend the lives of existing reactors, replace retiring facilities with new ones, and add a lot of new capacity so that global climate change and energy security goals can be reached."
2023 Nuclear Power Development and Operating Experience Highlights
Nuclear power status and trends
Notes: Taiwan, China - nuclear electricity produced:17.2 TWh, share of nuclear electricity produced: 6.9 per cent. Ukraine has not submitted 2023 data by the time of publication
As of the end of December 2023, global operational nuclear power capacity was 371.5 GW(e), provided by 413 reactors in 31 countries. However, only 403 reactors, with a combined capacity of 364.5 GW(e), reported their electricity production to the IAEA. Twenty-five reactors remained in suspended operations throughout the year, despite being licenced for operation. This includes four reactors in India with a combined net capacity of 639 MW(e) and 21 reactors in Japan with a combined net capacity of around 21 000 MW(e). Japan restarted two reactors in 2023, Takahama-1 and Takahama-2, which had been in suspended operation since 2011.
Nuclear power capacity has remained at a consistent level over the past decade, with an additional 69.8 GW(e) nuclear capacity connected to the grid since the beginning of 2013. Over 79 per cent of this capacity growth occurred in Asia. China is still the fastest expanding nuclear power producer of the world, the reports on nuclear power reactors and operating experience show.
China currently has 56 nuclear power reactors in operation and a further 27 reactors currently under construction.
