The photo is sourced from energyeducation.ca
The IAEA data does not include nuclear reactors already connected to the grid (the Belarusian NPP connected to the grid in May 2023) or not under construction yet (the fifth and the sixth power units of the Hungarian Paks NPP whose active construction has not begun yet). In its turn, the “net” power indicator is the difference between the absolute power and the power required to ensure operation of the reactor itself.
Almost 90% of capacity of the power units under construction (52.5 GW out of 59.1 GW) is accounted for by the pressurised water reactors where ordinary water is used as a coolant and a neutron moderator required for provision of interaction between neutrons and nuclear fuel. The most common are the VVER series reactors to be installed at the nuclear power plants (NPPs) in Turkey (four power units of the Akkuyu NPP), India (the third, fourth, the fifth and the sixth power units of the Kudankulam NPP), Egypt (three power units of the NPP El-Dabaa), China (the third and the fourth power units of the Xudapu NPP, the seventh and the eighth power units of the Tianwan NPP) and Slovakia (the fourth power unit of the Mochovce NPP).
The pressurised water reactors of the AP-1000 series, developed by the Westinghouse Company have also become widespread: the original version of the AP-1000 is installed at the fourth power unit of the Vogtl NPP to be commissioned this year in the state of Georgia. A modified version of the AP-1000 is the Chinese CAP-1000 reactors, which will equip the third and the fourth power units of the Haiyan NPP in Shandong province, the east of China, as well as two new power units of the Sanmen NPP also located in the east of China, Zhejiang province.
A subtype of reactors of this type is the so-called boiling water reactor where steam is generated in the core and then sent to the turbine. Two plants of this type are the single-unit Ohma NPP and the power unit of the Shimane NPP whose commissioning was repeatedly postponed after the accident at the Fukushima-1 NPP.
Fast fission reactors with no moderators in their cores rank second in terms of total capacity (2.1 GW) among the power units under construction. In particular, these include two power units of the Xiapu NPP in the Fujian province, the southeast of China, as well as an experimental PFBR power unit with a “net” capacity of 470 MW in the Indian state of Tamiland and the Russian reactor plant BREST-OD-300, which is under construction in Tomsk region.
Heavy water reactors make up a separate category. They use D2O as a coolant and moderator – deuterium oxide with the chemical formula similar to water. The difference is that D2O contains two atoms of the heavy hydrogen isotope (deuterium) instead of the light hydrogen isotope. Being a colourless and odourless liquid, heavy water does not look different from ordinary one, but it tastes sweetish. All heavy water reactors under construction are located in India, including the third power unit of the Kakrapar NPP in the state of Gujarat, as well as the seventh and the eighth power units of the Rawatbata NPP, which are under construction in the state of Rajasthan, the north-west of the country.
