COTW: Nuclear Power Producers

The US is on top producing more that the next two countries combined, China and France. France is the most nuclearized country, producing 60% of its electric power from nuclear fission compared to only 29% for the US.  Its nuclear infrastructure is aging however, with many plants nearing their designed lifespans with no replacements coming on line.  Only major project is ongoing in Georgia and it is widely over budget War torn Ukraine is heavily dependent on nuclear power, but its largest plant (six reactors) has been captured by the invader and is currently off-line. Zaporizhzhia has been subjected to bombardment.

According to the to Lawerence-Berkeley National Laboratory the United States already has close to enough alternative energy seeking access to the national grid to meet Presidemt's Biden 2035 goal of zero carbon electricity production. But these sources of clean energy face enormous hurdles both economic and technical. According to the 2022 report 2,000GW of energy production and storage is in line to connect. These interconnection queues are an indication of the extreme need to modernize the power grid and reduce competition from vested utility interests, if the US is to successfully switch off fossil fuel power generation. Only 21% of projects reached commercial operation between 2000 and 2017