FAQ

As of 2023, there are 94 nuclear reactors operating in 30 states in the United States. These reactors provide about 20% or 770 terawatt hours (TWh) of the country’s total power mix. As a baseload source, nuclear is operational 93% of the time and provides nearly half of the country’s clean energy. The reactors are turned off every 18 to 24 months for refueling and maintenance.

Worldwide, there are around commercial 440 nuclear reactors today that provide 390 GW of electricity in 31 countries. In 2023, these reactors produced 2600 TWh or 9% of the world’s electricity.

Nuclear reactors generate power the same way that most power sources do, by using steam or some other kind of fluid to rotate a turbine inside an electromagnetic field. The main difference between varying kinds of generators is how that steam is created. In a coal plant, coal is burned as a fuel, and the heat it generates creates steam by vaporizing water.

In a nuclear reactor, the fuel is made up of radioactive material, typically some form of uranium or plutonium, and this is where the nuclear reactions take place. This reaction is called fission, and it consists of large atoms being split apart when neutrons collide with them. Splitting these atoms releases enormous amounts of energy and more neutrons, causing a nuclear chain reaction. The nuclear energy is then used to heat water into the steam that turns the turbine, like a coal plant.

 

Worldwide, there are around commercial 440 nuclear reactors today that provide 390 GW of electricity in 31 countries. In 2023, these reactors produced 2600 TWh or 9% of the world’s electricity.