Nuclear Monitor #930
Gerard Brinkman, WISE-Netherlands
Last week, the annual World Nuclear Industry Status Report was published. This report lists the most important nuclear developments. As in previous editions, the main conclusion of this 2025 edition is that nuclear energy is further declining in global electricity production. Its share has fallen to 9.0%. Solar and wind are much cheaper and are taking off.
In 1996, nuclear power plants produced at their maximum. The share of nuclear power was at its highest worldwide in that year, at 17.5%.
In the last year, nuclear energy’s share in the global electricity mix declined from 9,1 to 9,0 %. The question is of course what is causing the decline. The most important issue is that the number of operating nuclear power plants is quite stable in the last years, while more and more electricity is gradually being used in the world.
408 Reactors were operating in 31 countries, the same as the number of reactors reported in the previous WNISR-2024, but they are operating in one less country.
Since 1990, the number of nuclear power plants has fluctuated at just over 400. Although new nuclear power plants are being connected, approximately the same number are being shut down. This is clearly visible in the balance below.
Since around 1990, the blue line (new nuclear power plants) and the brown line (closures) have been in balance. The only exception is 2012, when Japan closed its nuclear power plants as a precaution after the Fukushima disaster. In the first half of 2025 (the rightmost column), more nuclear power plants will have been closed than added. According to the IAEA, the current figure (September 2025) is 1 new and 2 closed. The so-called “nuclear renaissance” is still very much questionable.
Under construction
That many new nuclear power plants are being built is a myth. Since 2010, the number of nuclear power plants under construction has fluctuated around 60.
The long construction time of nuclear reactors remains problematic. The average time from start of construction to grid connection for the seven reactors started up in 2024 was 9,6 years.
The nuclear renaissance is also not yet visible in the investments in nuclear energy. While there is growing investment in new solar and wind parks, nuclear energy remains a marginal phenomenon.
An important aspect lies in the cost development. Lazard, a renowned agency that analyses and advises investors, calculates the costs per MWh each year and determines that solar power has become 84% cheaper compared to 2009, wind on land 55% cheaper and nuclear energy has become 47% more expensive. Investors simply do not like higher costs. The graph shows that due to higher costs and inflation, solar and wind have also increased in price in recent years.
The result of all these investments is that the production of sustainable energy is growing strongly worldwide and nuclear energy is stagnating.
China
There is still a major misconception about China. The image that persists is that nuclear power plants in China are being connected to the grid on a regular basis. But what actually is happening there is that the share of renewable energy is increasing dramatically.
Nuclear power generation is increasing steadily, but the growth of solar and wind is particularly spectacular.
Small Modular Reactors
While a number of countries see SMRs as the future of nuclear power, experience so far suggests otherwise. The few existing cost estimates all show that SMRs will be more expensive per unit of installed capacity than large reactors.
The WNISR concludes that so far, there is only one Design Certification and one Standard Design Approval (both NuScale, U.S.) but no constructions of SMR’s in the West. Two of the largest European nuclear startups Newcleo (cash shortage) and Naarea (insolvent) are in serious financial trouble.
Building SMR’s for data centers appears incoherent. Time horizons do not match: data centers need power in the short term, SMR’s need many years to develop, plan, and build.
Batteries
In an energy system based on solar and wind, storage is necessary. Short-term storage can be provided by batteries. The cost of battery systems has fallen dramatically in recent years.
Conclusion
The report shows that the nuclear renaissance is not happening: the big change is in the increase of solar & wind, while the share of nuclear energy is actually decreasing.
