China provided for more than half of the capacities, where 33 reactors of 36.6 GW were connected to the grid between 2015 and 2023. The following countries also contributed a lot to the industry development: the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where three power units of Baraka NPP (the first nuclear power plant in the country) were commissioned during the same period; Pakistan, where four new reactors of 2.7 GW were connected to the grid (the third and the fourth power units of Chashma NPP, the second and the third reactors of Karachi NPP); and Russia, where eight new power units were commissioned including two reactors of floating nuclear combined heat and power plant Academician Lomonosov in Chukotka, as well as new power units at Leningradskaya, Novovoronezhskaya, Rostovskaya and Beloyarskaya NPPs.
In the recent years there were the following important points of growth for the industry: Finland, where the third power unit of Olkiluoto NPP was commissioned – the biggest in the European Union (1.6 GW); the USA, where the construction of the third and the fourth power units of Vogtle NPP was completed, and one of them already started regular generation of electricity; and Slovakia, where the third power unit of Mochovce NPP was connected to the grid. In the coming years a number of new countries will appear in the global nuclear power industry map: Turkey, where four power units of Akkuyu NPP will be gradually commissioned covering 10% of the national electricity consumption; Bangladesh, where two reactors of Rooppur NPP are under construction; and in Egypt, where last January the concrete casting ceremony took place at the fourth power unit of El Dabaa NPP (currently under construction).
In addition to geographical expansion, introduction of new technologies will also have a big effect on the development of the nuclear power industry. They are as follows: small modular reactors to be delivered to the future operation sites in pre-assembled form; sodium-cooled fast reactors using liquid-metal sodium as coolant and HALEU (high-assay, low-enriched uranium) as fuel with concentration of fissile isotope U-235 is from 5% to 20% (vs 3-5% in the modern reactors and over 90% – in the fuel of submarine reactors); and finally – micro reactors of no more than 1 MW capacity providing electricity to remote territories, where they could be delivered by ordinary trucks.
Change in legislation of various countries and regions across the globe will also help in developing the industry. Thus, the EU included “atom” into the taxonomy ranking the types of generation by the environmental impact; the Japanese Cabinet adopted a policy document permitting the construction of the new-generation reactors to replace the spent power units; and India intends to grant the right for participation in the new NPP projects to private and foreign investors as fully-featured shareholders, not just technological partners.
