| Summary/Abstract |
To many, the March 2011 Fukushima disaster seemed to sound the death knell for nuclear energy. In the seven years since the accident, Japan has restarted only a handful of its more than 50 nuclear reactors, and Germany too began shuttering its nuclear power plants. Even the United States, the world’s largest nuclear power producer, has only built one new reactor since 1996.1
1 “How Old Are U.S. Nuclear Power Plants, and When Was the Newest One Built?,” Energy Information Administration, last modified June 21, 2017, https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=228&t=21.
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However, this impression deceives—nuclear power’s apparent demise has proven to be more of a localized phenomenon. While it is in steady decline in parts of Europe, the United States, and Japan, nuclear energy is poised for growth in the world’s emerging economies. From the Persian Gulf to the Asia-Pacific, economic, environmental, and technological factors are converging to make commercial nuclear power a sensible electricity source for countries looking to decarbonize their economies without sacrificing growth.
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