As of November 8, 2016, the European Nuclear Society has reported nuclear power plants in operation or under construction in 33 countries world-wide, with a total of 510 power plants (450 of which are in operation, 60 of which are under construction). The ENS’s site includes graphs describing the distribution of these plants between counties. Of the plants in operation the United States, France, and Japan are numbers one, two, and three respectively. These countries are closely followed by China and Russia, who are also numbers one and two of countries with plants under construction. This follows reports of both China and Russia increasing nuclear energy operations in an effort to contend on the energy security stage.
The ENS’s site also graphs the share of overall energy that nuclear provides, with France in first place with an almost 80% share of energy production, followed by Ukraine, Slovakia, and Hungary, all of which hover in between a 50%-60% share. Japan, unsurprisingly, sits in last place following the Fukushima disaster in 2011. The combination of plant existence numbers and nuclear energy’s share in output creates an interesting story of country size and energy production/consumption. France, for example, is the only country that both has a high number of plants as well as a high share of energy production through nuclear. Many people believe that the USA, France, and Japan are most concerned with the energy security aspects of nuclear energy, given that they have such investment in the number of plants in operation. However, given that France, Ukraine, and Slovakia have the highest percentage of nuclear energy in consumption, it would make sense that these countries are more sensitive to energy security than the USA or Japan. If one aspect of the nuclear program were to fail, more than half of the energy production in these countries would likely collapse.
It is important to also note that not all of these countries are using the same types of reactors, which can determine any number of safety, cost, and effectiveness concerns. The World Nuclear Association has data from 2015 that helps distinguish which countries use which reactors. According to the WNA, the highest number of reactors are the Pressurized Water Reactor, the Boiling Water Reactor, and the Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor.
The data from both the World Nuclear Association and the European Nuclear Society were collected and/or update after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi meltdown, which is notable because the disaster greatly affected global positions on nuclear energy and has the potential to continue doing so as more information comes to light and more regulations are put in place.