World-Wide Reactor Information

Sources

There are three (3) excellent sources of information about reactors around the world:

• Argonne National Laboratory International Nuclear Safety Center's (INSC) Database. There are currently about 440 operating reactors in the world. If you want to find where reactors are around the world, you can either use an imagemap (an example shown below) or a search table. Excerpts are provided below.
• International Atomic Energy Agency, an agency of the United Nations, provides (1) the central international forum for scientific and technical cooperation in the nuclear field, and (2) the international inspectorate for the application of nuclear safeguards and verification measures covering civilian nuclear programs.
• Energy Information Administration, a section of the US Department of Energy, has produced a number of on-line reports evaluating energy use and its impact in the US and globally.

INSC World Imagemaps

The imagemap and links below the map link to country maps and very limited information about specific reactors. You can select a specific point where a reactor is located or continents or major portions of continents.

World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO)

The WANO website provides:

• World map (360 KB) showing the location of all commercial reactors.
• Plant performance indicator reports for 2000 and 2001
• Inside WANO (a periodical about WANO plant published 3-4 times per year available in 6 languages) and WANO Biennial Review
• Member List
• Plant Web Links, a page providing links to various world nuclear plant web pages)

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

The International Atomic Energy Agency Power Reactor Information Service has the following information available from its homepage:

• Status of nuclear plants worldwide
• Reactors Under Construction
• Number of Reactors in Operation Worldwide
• Nuclear Share of Electricity Generation
• Number of Reactors in Operation by Age
• World Energy Availability Factors by Year

In addition, you can select a country and find the reactors located in the country with address, phone number, net and gross generating capacity, startup date, owner, operator, operating experience history

Energy Information Administration

The Energy Information Administration has produced a number of very useful reports covering US and international total and nuclear energy use.

• International Energy Outlook (with projections through 2020)
• Annual Energy Outlook (with projections through 2020)
• Short-Term Energy Outlook
• Energy Information Administration - (Environmental - Forecasts - Nuclear - Electricity - Fuel Overview - Coal - Natural Gas - Renewables)
• Data on nuclear power generation, and nuclear Fuel cycle, decommissioning, nuclear capacity, nuclear reactors, spent fuel, uranium mining and milling, uranium prices, uranium processing, uranium reserves, uranium shipments, production, enrichment, marketing, imports, exports, inventories.

Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI)

• US Nuclear Plant Owners and Operating Companies
• NEI Industry Data Digest 
• Nuclear Energy Data Monthly

Use NEI's U.S. Nuclear Plants State-by-State Interactive Map to find what reactors are located near you and how these contribute to the state's electrical grid. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

• NRC Nuclear Reactor Quick Links
• NRC Information Digest - NUREG-1350 (Current Year) - 2001
• Daily Plant Status, Event Reports, Electronic Reading Room, Document Collections
• Agencywide  Documents Access and Management System
• NRC Site Search - Site Map - Site Index (A-Z)

See the US reactors page to use the NEI imagemap or to obtain more extensive information about US reactors.

International Energy Agency (IEA)

The International Energy Agency, based in Paris, is an autonomous agency linked with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The IEA is the energy forum for 26 IEA Member countries, the governments of which are committed to taking joint measures to meet oil supply emergencies. IEA members share energy information, coordinate energy policies and cooperate in the development of rational energy programmes.

The stated IEA objectives are to: (1) maintain and improve systems for coping with oil supply disruptions, (2) promote rational energy policies in a global context through cooperative relations with non-Member countries, industry and international organizations, (3) operate a permanent information system on the international oil market, (4)  improve the world's energy supply and demand structure by developing alternative energy sources and increasing the efficiency of energy use, and (5)  assist in the integration of environmental and energy policies. IEA publishes a number of publications, some of which are free. A number of pdf files are available for download.

Some relevant and useful IEA pages are:

• About the IEA
• Information Centre
• News
• Publications
• Search results - nuclear power - nuclear safety
• Statistics
• Technology Agreements
• World Energy Outlook

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

The OECD groups 30 member countries in a unique forum to discuss, develop and refine economic and social policies. They compare experiences, seek answers to common problems and work to co-ordinate domestic and international policies to help members and non-members deal with an increasingly globalised world. Their exchanges may lead to agreements to act in a formal way-- for example by establishing legally binding agreements to crack down on bribery, or codes for free flow of capital and services. The OECD is also known for 'soft law' -- non-binding instruments on difficult issues such as its Guidelines for multinational enterprises. Beyond agreements, the discussions at the OECD make for better-informed work within member countries' own governments across the broad spectrum of public policy and help clarify the impact of national policies on the international community.

The OECD is at the forefront of efforts to understand and help governments respond to new challenges such as sustainable development , electronic commerce , biotechnology and food safety . Key publications related to nuclear power can be found under Energy, Environment, and Sustainable Development.. The Nuclear Energy Agency supports OECD.

European Union (EU)

The European Union is the European federation of 25 member states (with 12 states planned for future integration into the union. The EU has the following key objectives -

• Establish European citizenship
• Ensure freedom, security and justice
• Promote economic and social progress
• Assert Europe's role in the world

The page - EU at a glance - leads to more information about the EU. The EU is standardizing the requirements for nuclear plants within the union. A good resource for finding out more about nuclear safety and plants within the EU is the search engine (e.g. type in "nuclear power").