Evidence of the Nuclear Renaissance

Nuclear critique Amory Lovins denies that a nuclear renaissance is underway. The World Nuclear Association keeps track of actual and potential reactors world wide in order to determine future uranium demand. The list was created in 2007 and is updated every two months. A comparison of the January 29, 2007 list with the February 1, 2010 list demonstrates that a dramatic rise in the number of reactors under construction, planned, and proposed is under way. The number of reactors under construction has increased by 89% during the last three years, while the number of planned reactors has increased by 122%, and the number of reactors under consideration has increased by over 100%. This also suggests that a development process is moving forward, with reactors moving from proposal, into a planning stage and then into a construction stage. The 2010 list suggests that the United States is lagging behind world wide nuclear development. For example, the United States has 1reactor under construction, 11 planned, and 19 under consideration. in contrast China has 20 reactors under construction, 37 planned and 120 under consideration. India has 5 reactors under construction, 23 planned, and at least 15 more under consideration, and Russia has 9 reactors under construction, 8 planned, and 37 under consideration.

It should be noted that while only one reactor was added to the world reactor fleet in the last three years, the number of reactors under construction rose from 28 to 53, the number of Reactors planned rose from 64 to 142, and the number of reactors under consideration rose from 158 to 327.