Forty Years of Uranium Resources, Production and Demand in Perspective
The Red Book Retrospective
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Installed nuclear capacity
Nuclear Energy Agency
Civilian use of nuclear power was initiated in the United Kingdom in 1957 with the opening of the Calder Hall 1 nuclear reactor, with generating capacity during the first year of 50 megawatts electric (MWe). From that modest beginning the industry grew to 435 operating reactors with a generating capacity of over 359 400MWe in 2003, when nuclear power accounted for 16% of the world’s electricity output (Figure 2.1). In addition, in 2003 there were 33 reactors under construction in 11 countries. Generating capacity grew at an average annual rate of about 20% between 1956 and 2003. Though masked by the scale in Figure 2.1, generating capacity expanded at an annual rate of about 55% between 1957 and 1973. By comparison the rate of growth between 1973 and 1990, the peak building years, was about 13% annually. Between 1990 and 2003, the average annual rate of growth in generating capacity was less than 1% per year. The leading countries in terms of nuclear generating capacity in 2003 are listed in Table 2.1.
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