Nuclear reactors worldwide generated 2667 TWh of electricity in 2024, beating the previous record high of 2660 TWh which was set back in 2006, according to World Nuclear Performance Report 2025. 

In this edition Jonathan Cobb, author of the report, outlines the key findings of the latest edition of the annual World Nuclear Association publication, which include the dominance of Asia in terms of new reactor capacity over the past decade.

There is also clear evidence that reactor performance does not decline with age - the reverse can be true with modernisation, uprates and long-term operation programmes helping capacity factors reach an average of 83% across the global fleet (the capacity factor is a percentage of what the output would have been if a reactor had operated at full capacity for every moment of a year).

Jonathan, who is senior programme lead, climate, at World Nuclear Association, also considers how likely it is that the record is going to be broken again in the next few years.

Key links to find out more:

World Nuclear News
World Nuclear Performance Report

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Episode credit:  Presenter Alex Hunt. Co-produced and mixed by Pixelkisser Production