Emerging Nuclear Energy Countries

(Updated 2 September 2010) 

• Over thirty countries are actively considering embarking upon nuclear power programs. 
• These range from sophisticated economies to developing nations. 

Nuclear power is under serious consideration in over thirty countries which do not currently have it (in a few, consideration is not necessarily at government level).  For countries in bold, nuclear power prospects are more fully dealt with in specific country papers:

• In Europe: Italy, Albania, Serbia, Portugal, Norway, Poland, Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Ireland, Turkey.
• In the Middle East and North Africa: Iran, Gulf states including UAE & Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Israel, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Sudan.
• In west, central and southern Africa: Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Uganda, Namibia.
• In South America: Chile, Ecuador, Venezuela.
• In central and southern Asia: Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Bangladesh
• In SE Asia: Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand.
• In east Asia: North Korea

Despite the large number of these emerging countries, they are not expected to contribute very much to the expansion of nuclear capacity in the foreseeable future – the main growth will come in countries where the technology is already well established.  However, in the longer term, the trend to urbanisation in less-developed countries will greatly increase the demand for electricity, and especially that supplied by base-load plants such as nuclear. The pattern of energy demand in these countries will become more like that of Europe, North America and Japan.