Asia Bets on Nuclear Power in Global Energy Transition

(24 December 2021) While many countries have started to phase out nuclear power generation under the pressure of safety concerns raised by the 2011 Fukushima accident, many Asian and Middle East countries have ambitious plans to substantially increase their nuclear power generation capacity.

• According to the latest data from the World Nuclear Association, the total capacity of proposed and planned nuclear reactors in Asian* countries reaches 301 Gigawatts, which is nearly twice the capacity of operable reactors and reactors currently under construction. For the Middle East this ratio is even higher, with proposed and planned reactor capacity 3.4 times greater than that of existing reactors and those already under construction — though the total capacity of existing nuclear power generation in the Middle East (4 gigawatts) is much lower than the current capacity in Asia (114 gigawatt).
• For North America, Europe, and CIS** countries, the ratio of planned and proposed nuclear reactor capacity to existing capacity and capacity under construction equals 0.14, 0.25, and 1.15, respectively.

In the tables below, you can explore data on current, under-construction, planned, and proposed nuclear capacity by country and region. Select a nuclear power reactor status and measure (number of reactors or total capacity in megawatts electrical, MWe) from the first drop-down to view details in the table to the right. Select a country in the second drop-down menu to display country-specific details in the chart at the bottom of the page.

Notes: *Asia excluding CIS countries. **CIS countries include former Soviet Union republics except the Baltic states.