01/09/2014
The number of operational nuclear reactors remained unchanged in 2013, with four joining the world's grids and four closing permanently. Overall nuclear generating capacity showed a slight growth.
The year saw new reactors with total capacity of 4077 MWe connected to the grid: Hongyanhe 1 and 2 and Yangjiang 1 in China, and India's Kudankulam 1. Uprates at existing plants saw a further 1635 MWe added. Against the loss of 3576 MWe from the four reactor shutdowns, the world started 2014 with 435 operable reactors and a total nuclear generating capacity of 375.3 GWe.
Construction started on ten nuclear units during the year. As well the first ever nuclear units for Belarus and the second in the United Arab Emirates, 2013 also saw the first nuclear construction starts in the USA since the mid-1970s with two units each being built at the Vogtle and Summer sites. Work also began on China's Yiangjiang units 5 and 6 and Tianwan 4, bringing the number of reactors under construction to 71, totalling some 75 GWe.
[The start of construction on Belarus's first reactor at Ostrovets in November 2013]