2009 Was a Strong Year for Reactor Construction Worldwide

One of NEI’s knowledgeable writers, Chris Charles, tallied up some promising world nuclear numbers in NEI’s weekly member newsletter. Below is his text that you may find useful.

Jan. 7, 2010—The year 2009 ended with two new nuclear reactors beginning operation worldwide and a total of 55 new units under construction, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. In 2009, 11 units began construction, portending a healthy outlook for additions to the world nuclear fleet in coming years.

Of the 11 units that began construction last year, nine were in China and one each in South Korea and Russia. The two new reactors starting up in 2009 were Japan’s 866-megawatt Tomari 3 and
India’s 202-megawatt Rajasthan 5. They both came online in December.

Given an average construction lead time of five years, by 2014 about one new large reactor per month should begin to come on line. In addition, construction was being reactivated on two twin-reactor plants, one in Slovakia and the other a floating nuclear station in Russia.

Picture of the construction of Westinghouse’s Haiyang nuclear plant in China. Westinghouse has quite the deck of pictures to peruse but make sure to check with them for permission if you would like to use them.