FPN03-39

Nuclear Power: Not Dead Yet

July 10, 2003

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, there are 32 nuclear power plants currently under construction (none in the United States). The countries constructing these plants are India (8), Argentina (1), China (4), South Korea (2), Iran (2), Japan (3), Romania (1), Russia (3), Slovakia (2), Taiwan (2), and Ukraine (4).

The countries having the largest percentage of their total electricity being generated by nuclear power are: Lithuania (80%), France (78%), Slovakia (65%), Belgium (57%), Bulgaria (47%), Ukraine (48%), Slovenia (41%), Armenia (41%) and Switzerland (40%). The U.S currently generates about 20% of its electricity from nuclear power. In what has been described as "the biggest referendum in the country's history," 66% of Swiss voters rejected a call to phase out Switzerland's nuclear power plants and 58% voted to end the country's current moratoriam on new nuclear power plant construction.