CONSULTING

Union (EU), and in 2015 they accounted for exactly one third (down 1.2 percentage points) of the
world’s gross nuclear production, 30 with half that EU generation in France.
Overview of Current New Build
As of the middle of July 2016, 58 reactors are considered here as under construction, four fewer
than WNISR reported a year ago, and nine less than in mid-2014. Almost 80 percent of all newbuild
units (46) are in Asia and Eastern Europe, of which 21 in China alone.
Eight building sites were launched in 2015, six in China, as well as one each in Pakistan, and United
Arab Emirates (UAE).
Figure 8: Nuclear Reactors Under Construction
Number of Nuclear Reactors Listed as "Under Construction"
by year, 1954 - 1 July 2016
Number of Reactors
250
200
150
100
© Mycle Schneider Consulting
234
48
187
Cancelled or Suspended Projects
Completed and Ongoing Projects
Construction Starts
5
50
37
44
22 15
10
0
67
58
0
1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2016
Sources: IAEA-PRIS, MSC 2016
WNISR2016 applies two changes over previous editions. First, two reactors—Ohma and Shimane-
3—are reintegrated as “under construction” in Japan, as reportedly there is “some” construction
activity ongoing, even though there is no planned official startup date (for a detailed discussion see
Annex 1, Japan Focus, New-build). Second, the two projects in Ukraine—Khmelnitsky-3 and -4—
are taken off the list, as apparently no construction has been ongoing for many years and the
prospects for completion have been further delayed with the cancellation of the Russian
construction contract (see Annex 1, Ukraine).
The number of active building sites has been shrinking from 67 in 2013 to 58 in mid-2016. And it
is relatively small compared to a peak of 234 units—totaling more than 200 GW—in 1979.
30 BP, “Statistical Review of World Energy”, June 2015. BP corrected the 2013 value from 35.7 percent to
35.2 percent.
Mycle Schneider, Antony Froggatt et al. 27 World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2016