9% of global electricity is generated from Nuclear in 2025/2026

From July 2025 through June 2026, nuclear generated almost 2,700 TWh globally, supplying 8.6% of global electricity consumption—nearly one-tenth. Compared with 2016, generation increased by around 90 TWh, or just over 3%, but its share fell from 10.4% by about 1.8 percentage points. That modest increase in clean electricity is welcome, yet the declining share shows that nuclear expansion has not kept pace with overall electricity consumption. Accelerating nuclear and solar generation would help meet growing electricity needs from electrification and AI with low-carbon supply.

The United States remains the largest nuclear producer at around 790 TWh, ahead of People's Republic of China at 480 TWh and France at roughly 380 TWh. People's Republic of China leads five-year growth in absolute terms, adding almost 100 TWh, while Japan added around 32 TWh. Leadership looks different when measured by national electricity share: France and Slovakia obtain about two-thirds of their electricity from nuclear, Ukraine more than half, and Czechia and Slovenia around two-fifths. Finland leads generation per person at over 5,800 kWh, slightly ahead of France. Among US states, Illinois produces around 96 TWh, supplying almost half its electricity; Pennsylvania generates about 75 TWh, while South Carolina combines a majority nuclear share with nearly 9,700 kWh per person.

Nuclear’s climate advantage is clear in the IPCC lifecycle figures: its carbon intensity is 12 gCO2eq/kWh, compared with 820 gCO2eq/kWh for coal, 490 gCO2eq/kWh for gas and 650 gCO2eq/kWh for oil. That makes nuclear’s lifecycle emissions roughly 40 to 70 times lower than these fossil-fuel sources. Alongside wind and solar, nuclear provides low-carbon electricity that can reduce climate-changing emissions and the air pollution associated with fossil-fuel combustion when it displaces fossil generation. Expanding these clean electricity sources would build on nuclear’s existing contribution of almost 2,700 TWh while supporting a larger, cleaner global electricity supply.