Kick Nuclear newsletter - February 2024

Posted: 22nd February 2024

KICK NUCLEAR
February2024
The monthly newsletter of Kick Nucleargroup.
Editor: David Polden, Mordechai Vanunu House, 162 Holloway Road N7 8DQ;[email protected]
We hold“Remember Fukushima – End Nuclear Power” vigilsonlast Fridays of each month,from 11am to 12.30pm outside the Japanese Embassy at 101-104 Piccadilly, followed by from 1 to 1.30pm outside the offices of the Tokyo Electric Power Company at 14-18 Holborn.Join us!
Copy date for March edition: March 19.
NUCLEAR POWER WORLDWIDE
In the November 2022 editionof this newsletterI comparedhow countries around the worldare investing in nuclear power. In this edition Iset out changes since then..
Countries planning to increase nuclear power(in all cases “reactors” rmeansoperating civil nuclear reactors, unless said otherwise.)
CHINA: By 2020, China had 47 reactors with a totalcapacityof 42.8 gigawatts (GW) capacity producing 5% ofitselectricity. Reactorswith10.8 GW of capacitywerebeing built. By December 2023, the number in operation had increased to 55with 57 GW capacity, though this still produced only about 5% of China’sever-growingelectricityneeds.. Another 22 were under construction and 70 planned whichwouldmore than double the amount of electricityproduced throughnuclear power.
RUSSIA: in 2020, Russia had 38 reactors producing 19.7% ofits electricity,and 10 more in construction. Recently the number of reactors had fallen to 37, though these were producing 20.7 of Russia’s electricity. There were another 3 in construction in 2023, and another 25 planned.
SOUTH KOREA: In 2020 it had 24 reactors with 23.2 GW of capacity, producing 26% of the country’s electricity.By January 2024 it had 26 reactors with 26 GW of capacity producing 29% of its electricity, though with none in construction. In 2022 it issued plans to build6new reactors by 2033,with the first two to start construction in 2024.
INDIA: In 2020 India had 22 reactors with a capacity 0f 6.8GW, providing 3.1% of India’s electricity.By June2023 thisfellto 19,,butwith8in construction.However in April 2023 the Indian government announced plans to more than treble India’s nuclear capacity to 22.48 MWby 2031!
JAPAN:it had 54 reactors before the Fukushima disaster, generating about 30% of Japan’selectricity.The 50 that survived were shutdown soonafter.Some of them have been slowlyreopening and byJanuary 2024, 11 of themwere an operation,producing about 7% of Japan’s electricity,with 22 more declared “operable”, but “in the process of “restart approval”. However,the government’s stated aim is for nuclear power to provide 20-22% of electricity by 2030,which would require about 27 reactors operating by then.
FRANCE:in 2020 France had 54 reactors, with a capacity of 56GW, producing about 70% ofitselectricity.In 2014the then French government announced the aim of reducing nuclear’s share of electricity generation to 50%, by 2025, but this policy was scrapped in 2023. By 2024 the number of operating reactorswas46, with 50 GW capacity,withonly1reactorin construction, Flamanville 3. Thisis ofthe same design as Hinkley Point C. It began constructionin2007, withgridconnectionset for 2012. This date hasnowslipped to 2024.In February 2022, President Macron announced a new “renaissance” for the French nuclear industry with a programme to built up to 14 new reactors, to help make France carbon neutral by 2050.
UK:in 2020, the UK had 15 reactors,producing about 15% of UK electricity. By 20248of these had shut down,leaving 7;2more are to be shut down this Marchand 4 moreby 2028, leaving just1at Sizewell B in Essex operating. Only2more arecurrentlyin construction.These started building in 2017 atat Hinkley Point in Somerset, with a projected completion date of 2026, but this date has slipped to 2031-2033, andthecosts of building have increased greatly. An identical 2-reactor power station has been planned atSizewell C for some 13 years, but building has not yet started. Nothing daunted, the UK government in April 2022 announced the building of 8 new reactors in the UK (including the two at Sizewell C) as well as the development of SMRs (“smallmodularreactors”)
CZECH REPUBLIC:In 2020 had6reactorswith 22.9GW capacitygenerating about a third of its electricity, with plans to increase nuclear capacity tobe able toproduce 58% of its electricityfromnuclearby 2040. Thissituation remains unchanged in 2024,though it isthe intentionto start building2newnuclear reactors in the next two years.
SWEDEN: In2020 Sweden had7reactors producing about 40% of Sweden’ electricity. By 2024,1of these had closed down,with9in construction.Ithad decided to phase out nuclear power,butthecurrentgovernment has announced the policy of building reactors with capacity equal to that of2conventional reactors by 2035,though nonehas reached the planning stage..
PAKISTAN: In 2020 it had5operating nuclear reactors, with a capacity of 1.35 GW. It was aiming to reach 8.8GW by 2030. By July 2023 it had6operating, with1new reactor planned.
HUNGARY: In 2020 it had4reactors generating about half its electricity.It has contractedfor building2more though building had not started by 2024.
SLOVAKIA: In 2020 it had4reactorsgenerating half its electricity with2in construction.By August 2023 one of thesewasjoined to the grid,making 5.
ARGENTINA: In 2020 it had3reactors generating 5.4% of itselectricity,with1planned. By 2023thiswas under construction and afifthone planned.
ROMANIA: In 2020 it had2reactors generating about 20% of its electricity and2more planned.By 2023 both were in construction.
HOLLAND: In 2020 it had1reactor generating 4% ofitselectricity.In 2022 it decided to build2more by 2035.
BULGARIA:In 2020 it had2reactorsgenerating a third of its electricity, with2others planned.In2023,planning for4reactors was announced.
UAEOpened first reactor in 2020.2more were opened by 2022.A4tthreactor is in construction.The4together will have a capacity of 5.6 GWand are expected to produce 25% of the UAE’s electricity.
IRAN:In 2020 and 2023 it had 1 reactor producing 1.7% of its electricity. One more is in construction.
Countries stallingonor decreasing nuclear power
US: World’s biggest producer of nuclear-generated electricity. In 2020 ithadsome 95 reactors (this was down from 104 in 2013) with a net capacity of 98 GW, plus2in construction.By 2024this had reducedslightly to 93 with only1in construction and2planned.
BELARUS: In November 2020 it joined its1streactor to the grid and a2ndone inMay2023. They have 2.4 GW capacity between them.It is not clear whether they have any plans to build more.
BRAZIL: In 2020 it had2nuclear reactors generating some 3% of Brazil’s electricity. Construction of a3rdreactor has been stalled.
CANADA:No change since2020when it had19 operating reactors with a capacity of 13.5GW, generating 15% of its electricity. Ithad planned tobuild2new reactors by 2030, but these have been deferred.
FINLAND: In 2020 it had4reactors providing about 30% of its electricity with1in construction and1planned. In 2023a5th,Olkiluoto 3,wasconnectedto the grid after eighteen years in construction, increasingtheproportion of Finland’selectricityfrom nuclear power to 34%.2 reactors previously plannedwerecancelled in 2014 and 2023.
MEXICO: In 2020 it had reactors generating almost 4% of its electricity, with no further ones planned and this seems still the case.
SLOVENIA: In 2020 it had1reactorand shared another on its territory with Croatia. Itproduced37.8% of its electricityfrom nuclear.Decision as to whether to build new reactor postponed till 2027.
SOUTH AFRICAIn 2020 it had2reactors generating 5% of its electricity, with plans to build 1 GW of new nuclear capacity by 2030. These planshadstalled by 2023.
UKRAINE: In 2020 it had 15 operating reactors generating half its electricity. Sincethe Zaporizhzhia power stations wasoccupied by Russia in2022, all6reactorstherehave been closed down.Some ofits other9reactors seem to be operating,andUkraine is planning to build4new reactorsfrom2024 to replaceZaporizhzhia.
BELARUS: In November 2020 it joined its first reactor to the grid and a second one inMay2023. They have 2.4 GW capacity between them.It is not clear whether they have any plans to build more.
ARMENIA: 1 reactor in operation producing about 33% ofitselectricity.
Giving up nuclear power
GERMANY: In 2020itwas well on the way to its aim of giving up on nuclear power. It then had 6 reactors producing 10% of its electricity.(Down from 17.producing 22.4% of its electricity in 2010.)It shut down its last3reactors in April 2023.
BELGIUM: In 2020 it had7reactors, generatingoverhalf its electricity;by the end of 2023 thishad fallento5.In 2019 it decided to phase out nuclear by 2025.Howeverclosureswere delayed in March 2022afterthe Russian invasion on Ukraineby 10 years,with the country’s2newest reactors, allowed to remain in operationuntil2035.
SPAIN:In 2020 it had seven reactors generating about 20% of its electricitywhich were still operating in 2023.In 2011 parliament resolved to close all its nuclear reactorsby2035and in December 2023 reconfirmedthisdecision..
SWITZERLAND: In 2020 it had4reactors operating, with a policy of phasing out nuclear power by not replacing reactors when they closed down. In 2023 the4were still operating.
TAIWAN: In 2020 it had4reactors producing 10% of its electricity.By 2023there were2.Its government plans to phase-out nuclear power by 2025.
The overall picture seems to be a modest rise innewnuclearreactors being built,due largely to the fuel crisis caused by the Ukraine war.There aresome ambitious plans formanynewreactors which may or may not be realised.In all, 32 countriesout of 195 worldwidehave nuclear power.Neither Israel nor North Korea have civil nuclear reactors.