Policy Brief: Nuclear Energy Today

Nuclear energy has been used to produce electricity for more than half a century. It currently provides about 15% of the world’s supply and 22% in OECD countries.

The oil crisis of the early 1970s provoked a surge in nuclear power plant orders and construction, but as oil prices stabilised and even dropped, and enough electricity generating plants came into service to meet demand, orders tailed off. Accidents at Three Mile Island in the United States (1979) and at Chernobyl in Ukraine (1986) also raised serious questions in the public mind about nuclear
safety.

Now nuclear energy is back in the spotlight as many countries reassess their energy policies in the light of concerns about future reliance on fossil fuels and ageing energy generation facilities. Oil, coal and gas currently provide around two-thirds of the world’s energy and electricity, but also produce the greenhouse gases largely responsible for global warming. At the same time, world energy demand is expected to rise sharply in the next 50 years, presenting all societies worldwide with a real challenge: how to provide the energy needed to fuel economic growth and improve social development while simultaneously addressing environmental protection issues. Recent oil price
hikes, blackouts in North America and Europe and severe weather events have also focused attention on issues such as long-term price stability, the security of energy supply and sustainable development.

The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) has worked in these areas for the past 50 years, bringing together world specialists in every field to develop scientific and technical analyses that provide solid ground on which policymakers can establish nuclear and energy policies.

This Policy Brief looks at the current situation of nuclear energy, the prospects for the future and the policy challenges for governments.