World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2023
The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2023 (WNISR2023) provides a comprehensive overview (in 549 pages) of the status and trends within the international nuclear industry, including data on nuclear power plant starts and operation, production, fleet age, and construction. The WNISR evaluates the status of newbuild programs in existing as well as in potential newcomer nuclear countries, and looks at the status of Small Modular Reactor (SMR) development.
Earth Track's main contribution to this effort was the special focus chapter on Nuclear Power Economics and Finance. The chapter assesses how persistent competitive pressures force the nuclear sector to rely on increasing state support, looks at project cost trends for reactors and evaluates the constraints to new uses for nuclear power in hydrogen production, desalination and other potential markets.
Further focus chapters within WNISR include an expanded analysis of U.S. nuclear policy, including its multiple new subsidy mechanisms, as well as an assessment of the struggling South African nuclear program amidst a continued electricity crisis. The report also examines the history of Germany’s phased-out nuclear fleet through the April 2023 when the country's last three reactors were closed, and evaluates the difficulties that neighboring France has been facing in a historically catastrophic year of nuclear performance. Also analyzed are the status of the Russian nuclear industry and the complex implications of the international interdependencies with nuclear players in other countries. A United Kingdom Focus looks at the many challenges facing plant operation, decommissioning, and ongoing construction, as well as future prospects.
The Fukushima Status Report provides an overview of ongoing onsite/offsite challenges of the 2011-disaster, as well as legal developments regarding citizens’ health and compensation claims. The Decommissioning Status Report looks at the current situation of the now over 210 closed nuclear power reactors, a group comprising close to one third of all units in the world that have generated electricity at some point during the industry's history. The chapter Nuclear Power vs. Renewable Energy Deployment provides an overview of the increasing gap between the development patterns of the two electricity generating technologies. Finally, Annex 1 offers an overview by region and country of all operating nuclear programs not covered in the focus chapters.