Nuclear power, 1954-2018

Comment
Nuclear power stations are concentrated in North America, Europe, and Northeast Asia: The United States and France possess the most, ahead of Japan, Russia, and China. This form of energy provides most of the electricity in France, Belgium, Ukraine and Sweden. Chronologically, nuclear power stations in the North are old: current production levels were reached during the 1980s. They are newer or even undergoing construction in the Global South, and especially in China where over 20 reactors are being built, and to a lesser extent the United Arab Emirates and Russia. Although nuclear energy produces little greenhouse gas, it has many disadvantages: risk of health and environmental disasters, high costs (construction, maintenance, dismantling, etc.), and massive waste that is damaging, long-lasting, difficult to process, and so on.