A nuclear power phase-out is the discontinuation of usage of nuclear power for energy production. Often initiated because of concerns about nuclear power, phase-outs usually include shutting down nuclear power plants and looking towards fossil fuels and renewable energy. Three nuclear accidents have influenced the discontinuation of nuclear power: the 1979 Three Mile Island partial nuclear meltdown in the United States, the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the USSR (now Ukraine), and the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.
Following Fukushima, Germany has permanently shut down eight of its 17 reactors and pledged to close the rest by the end of 2022. In late 2021 all but three of the remaining German nuclear power plants were shut down. However, there are no plans to shut down the research reactor in Garching, Forschungsreaktor München II. Italy voted overwhelmingly to keep their country non-nuclear. Switzerland and Spain have banned the construction of new reactors. Japan's prime minister called for a dramatic reduction in Japan's reliance on nuclear power. Taiwan's president did the same. Shinzō Abe, the prime minister of Japan from 2012 to 2020, announced a plan to re-start some of the 54 Japanese nuclear power plants (NPPs) and to continue some NPP sites under construction.
The impacts of the nuclear shut-downs on the power generation mix, post-Fukushima, have significantly set back emissions reductions goals in these countries. A recent study of the impacts of the German and Japan phaseouts concludes that by continuing to operate their nuclear plants "these two countries could have prevented 28,000 air pollution-induced deaths and 2400 MtCO2 emissions between 2011 and 2017.""By sharply reducing nuclear instead of coal and gas after Fukushima both countries lost the chance to prevent very large amounts of air pollution-induced deaths and emissions". As of 2021 Japan planned on restarting 30 reactors by 2030 as well as investing in future small modular reactor (SMR) development
, countries including Australia, Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Estonia, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal and Serbia have no nuclear power stations and remain opposed to nuclear power. Germany, Spain and Switzerland plan nuclear phase-outs by 2030. However, several countries formerly opposed to opening nuclear programs or planning phaseouts have reversed course in recent years due to climate concerns and energy independence including Belgium, the Philippines, Greece, Sweden and South Korea. Globally, more nuclear power reactors have closed than opened in recent years but overall capacity has increased. As Generation II reactors reach the end of their service life, some countries replace them with Generation III reactors or what is deemed "Generation III+ reactors". While Generation IV reactors include small modular reactors, the majority of "evolutionary" designs like the EPR have a higher capacity than comparable reactors of earlier generations. Furthermore, countries like Canada, which decided to refurbish its existing CANDU reactors, among them Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, the most powerful single site nuclear power plant outside Asia, have increased capacity at existing reactors by optimising efficiency.
, Italy is the only country that has permanently closed all of its formerly functioning nuclear plants, with Germany phasing out the remaining 3 plants by the end of the year. Lithuania and Kazakhstan have shut down their only nuclear plants, but plan to build new ones to replace them, while Armenia shut down its only nuclear plant but subsequently restarted it. Austria never used its first nuclear plant that was completely built. Due to financial, political and technical reasons Cuba, Libya, North Korea and Poland never completed the construction of their first nuclear plants (although North Korea and Poland plan to). Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Georgia, Ghana, Ireland, Kuwait, Oman, Peru, Venezuela have planned, but not constructed their first nuclear plants. Between 2005 and 2021 the global production of nuclear power increased by 1.1%.
Overview
A popular movement against nuclear power exists in the Western world, based on concerns about more nuclear accidents and concerns about nuclear waste. Anti-nuclear critics see nuclear power as a dangerous, expensive way to boil water to generate electricity. The 1979 Three Mile Island accident and the 1986 Chernobyl disaster played a key role in stopping new plant construction in many countries. Major anti-nuclear power groups include Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, and Sortir du nucléaire (France).