Countries that generate the most nuclear power 2026: world ranking and Latin America

Updated on 11 November 2026. The United States is the country that generates the most nuclear power: 782 TWh in 2024, 28.2% of the world total, according to Ember data processed by Our World in Data. China is second, with 451 TWh, and France third, with 380 TWh: together the three account for 58.1%. In Latin America, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina generate nuclear power. Chile has no nuclear power plants.

The world generated 2,777 TWh of nuclear electricity in 2024 and, according to preliminary data, a record 2,812 TWh in 2025. But its weight in world electricity keeps falling: from 16.6% in 2000 to 8.8% in 2025, because renewables and coal grew more. This data sheet brings together the country ranking, the map, the countries where nuclear matters most and trends since 2000.

Only 31 countries generated nuclear electricity in 2024 with Ember data. The table ranks them by generation; the fourth column shows what share of each country's electricity is nuclear and the last one, the preliminary 2025 figure.

Source: Ember (2026), via Our World in Data. Shares of the world total calculated by Energía Futura. Ukraine, which before the war generated more than half of its electricity from nuclear power (55.1% in 2021), has no data since 2022 in this database, so it does not appear in the ranking.

The United States leads by size: it has the world's largest reactor fleet, although most of it was built between the 1970s and 1990s. China is the growth story: in 2000 it generated 17 TWh, in 2020 it overtook France and in 2025 it reached 488 TWh, up 8.2% in a year. Its new plants are among the largest in the world, as we detail in our ranking of the largest nuclear power plants.

Measured as a share of electricity, France leads: 67.7% of its 2024 generation was nuclear. It is followed by Slovakia (61.8%), Hungary (42.2%), Bulgaria (41.2%), Belgium (41.1%), Czechia (40.8%) and Finland (39.5%). Central and eastern Europe rely heavily on Soviet or Russian-designed reactors, which has put nuclear fuel at the centre of the energy security debate since 2022.

Other countries went the other way. Germany closed its last three reactors in April 2023 and its nuclear generation has been zero since then; in 2000 it was 29.8% of its electricity. Taiwan shut its last reactor in 2025, and its generation fell from 12.2 TWh in 2024 to 3.3 TWh. Japan is coming back: after the Fukushima accident in 2011, its nuclear generation fell to zero in 2014, and in 2025 it reached 94 TWh with the reactors it has restarted.

Three Latin American countries generate nuclear electricity. Brazil produced 15.8 TWh in 2024 with the Angra 1 and 2 plants, 2.1% of its electricity. Mexico generated 12.3 TWh with Laguna Verde, in Veracruz, 3.5%. Argentina, with Atucha I, Atucha II and Embalse, generated 10.5 TWh, 6.9%, the highest share in the region.

Source: Ember (2026), via Our World in Data. The list of plants is public information from each country's operators. Chile has research reactors run by the Chilean Nuclear Energy Commission, which do not supply electricity to the grid.

World nuclear generation rose from 2,540 TWh in 2000 to a first peak of 2,762 TWh in 2006, fell after Fukushima to 2,432 TWh in 2012 and slowly recovered to the record 2,812 TWh in 2025. Over the same period, total world electricity almost doubled, so the nuclear share fell from 16.6% to 8.8%.

The uranium that fuels these reactors comes from a few countries: Kazakhstan produced 38.6% of mined uranium in 2024 and, with Canada and Namibia, leads world production, as shown in our ranking of uranium producers. That concentration, more than price, is what worries countries that depend on nuclear power.

Nuclear power is back on the agenda for two reasons: it is a low-emission source that works day and night, and electricity demand is growing with data centres. Several tech companies have signed contracts with existing plants and small modular reactor (SMR) projects, and COP28 included a call by more than 20 countries to triple nuclear capacity by 2050. The challenge remains the cost and construction time of new plants.

In Chile, the debate is narrower: the country covers its growth with solar, wind and batteries, and reached more than 80% renewable electricity in some months of 2026. How it compares with other countries is in our renewable electricity ranking.

For Chile, nuclear power is not part of official electricity planning, which projects covering demand growth with renewables and storage. But the country takes part in the nuclear market in another way: it is a major producer of metals the industry uses, and Chilean lithium could play a role in future fusion reactors, a use that is still only experimental.

The comparison between countries also shows the weight of size. France, with 68 million people, generates almost half as much nuclear power as the United States, which has five times its population. That is why the countries most dependent on nuclear power in proportion tend to be medium or small European countries, not the largest generators.

Source: Ember (2026), via Our World in Data.

The data come from Ember, processed by Our World in Data. Nuclear generation is the gross electricity produced by nuclear plants in each country. The ranking uses 2024 because it is the last complete year; 2025 data are preliminary and some countries are missing, such as the United Arab Emirates. Ukraine has no data since 2022 in this database.

Energía Futura (2026). "Countries that generate the most nuclear power 2026: world ranking and Latin America". Updated on 11 November 2026. energiafutura.cl/en/news/countries-that-generate-the-most-nuclear-power-2026-world-ranking-and-latin-america. Data: Ember (2026), Yearly Electricity Data, processed by Our World in Data.

Which country generates the most nuclear power?

The United States, with 782 TWh in 2024, 28.2% of the world total.

Which country depends most on nuclear power?

France: 67.7% of its electricity was nuclear in 2024. Slovakia follows with 61.8%.

How much nuclear power is generated worldwide?

2,777 TWh in 2024 and a record 2,812 TWh in 2025, according to preliminary data: 8.8% of world electricity.

Which Latin American countries have nuclear power?

Brazil (15.8 TWh), Mexico (12.3 TWh) and Argentina (10.5 TWh). Argentina depends on it most, with 6.9% of its electricity.

Does Chile have nuclear power plants?

No. It has research reactors run by the Chilean Nuclear Energy Commission, which do not supply electricity to the grid.

Why is Ukraine not in the ranking?

Because Ember's database has no generation data for Ukraine since 2022, due to the war. In 2021, the country generated 86.2 TWh of nuclear power, 55.1% of its electricity, which would have placed it in the top ten.

Is nuclear power growing?

In volume, yes: 2025 set a record of 2,812 TWh, driven by China and Japan. As a share of world electricity, it keeps falling.