World nuclear plants — GPS-located
Major nuclear power plants globally
Reactor types: PWR (most common globally), BWR, CANDU, PHWR, VVER, APR-1400. Source: IAEA PRIS 2024 · World Nuclear Association.
| Plant | GPS | MW net | Reactors | Country/Operator | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kashiwazaki-Kariwa | 37.43°N 138.60°E | 8,212 | 7 × BWR (ABWR) | Japan / TEPCO | Offline since 2011 | World's largest nuclear plant by nameplate capacity. Shut after Fukushima. Some units cleared for restart but community opposition remains strong. TEPCO's credibility severely damaged by Fukushima. |
| Bruce Nuclear | 44.32°N 81.60°W | 6,384 | 8 × CANDU-6 | Canada / Bruce Power | Operational — world's largest | World's largest operational nuclear plant. Lake Huron, Ontario. CANDU reactors use heavy water moderator and natural uranium fuel — no enrichment required. Bruce's major refurbishment (2020–2033) will extend operation to 2064. |
| Zaporizhzhia | 47.51°N 34.58°E | 6,000 | 6 × VVER-1000 | Ukraine / Energoatom (Russian-occupied since 2022) | Shutdown (occupied) | Europe's largest nuclear plant. Occupied by Russian forces since March 2022. All 6 reactors shut down for safety. Running on diesel backup power — loss of backup power could cause cooling failure. IAEA has maintained continuous presence since September 2022. The plant has come under artillery fire multiple times — near-misses documented by IAEA. |
| Gravelines | 51.01°N 2.13°E | 5,460 | 6 × PWR 900 MW | France / EDF | Operational | Europe's largest operational nuclear plant. Nord-Pas-de-Calais, northern France. France derives approximately 70% of electricity from nuclear (56 reactors, 61 GW). EDF's entire fleet is state-owned (EDF re-nationalised 2022). |
| Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant | 23.96°N 52.19°E | 5,600 | 4 × APR-1400 | UAE / Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation | Units 1–4 operational | Arab world's first nuclear power plant. Built by KEPCO (Korea Electric Power Corporation). Units 1–4 all operational by 2023. Provides approximately 25% of UAE electricity. Funded by Abu Dhabi for low-carbon baseload to offset gas use. |
| Vogtle Units 3 & 4 | 33.14°N 81.76°W | 4,600 (all 4 units) | 2 × AP1000 (new) + 2 × PWR (old) | USA / Georgia Power (Southern Company) | U3 commissioned 2023, U4 2024 | First new nuclear reactors built in the USA in approximately 30 years. AP1000 design (Westinghouse) uses passive cooling — does not need external power to cool after shutdown. Cost overruns: budget grew from $14 billion to over $35 billion. Despite cost overruns, completion proves US can still build nuclear. |
| Olkiluoto-3 | 61.24°N 21.44°E | 1,600 | 1 × EPR | Finland / TVO | Commissioned | Europe's newest nuclear reactor. EPR design (Areva/EDF). 14 years late and €8 billion over budget (total cost ~€11 billion for 1,600 MW). Despite the delays, it now generates 14% of Finland's electricity. Finland also has Olkiluoto 1 and 2 (880 MW total, operational since 1978–1982) at the same site. |
| Hinkley Point C | 51.22°N 3.13°W | 3,200 | 2 × EPR | UK / EDF Energy (66.5%) + China CGN (33.5%) | Under construction — target 2027–2029 | UK's first new nuclear in 35 years. Two EPR reactors. Estimated cost: £31–37 billion, the most expensive power station ever built per MW. Strike price guaranteed at approximately £92–£108/MWh (2012 prices) for 35 years. China General Nuclear holds 33.5% — raising national security concerns reviewed in 2022 (UK decided to continue). |
| Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant | 24.07°N 89.04°E | 2,400 | 2 × VVER-1200 | Bangladesh / BPDB (Rosatom construction) | Under construction — target 2025 | Bangladesh's first nuclear plant. Built by Rosatom (Russian state nuclear company). Financed by $12.65 billion Russian loan. Located on Padma River. Significant concerns about grid capacity to absorb 2,400 MW in Bangladesh's current system. |
| Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant | 34.70°N 119.46°E | 6,000 (planned) | 8 × VVER-1000/1200 | China / CJNPC (Rosatom partnership) | Units 1–6 operational; 7–8 under construction | China's largest nuclear plant site. Jiangsu province, Yellow Sea coast. Russia-China civil nuclear partnership. Units 1–4 are VVER-1000; units 5–6 are upgraded VVER-1200. China is the world's fastest-growing nuclear nation — adding approximately 6–8 reactors per year, targeting 150 GW by 2035. |
India · Nuclear power plants — all GPS-located
India's nuclear power plants — complete reference
India has 7,480 MW of operating nuclear capacity from 24 reactors at 7 sites as of . All operating plants are operated by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL). India uses a unique three-stage nuclear programme designed around its large thorium reserves. Source: NPCIL India · IAEA PRIS 2024.
| Plant | GPS | MW | Type | State | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kudankulam India | 8.17°N 77.72°E | 2,000 | 2 × VVER-1000 | Tamil Nadu | Operational | India's largest nuclear plant. Russian-Indian partnership — VVER-1000 reactors supplied by Rosatom. Units 3 and 4 (2,000 MW more) under construction. Unit 5 and 6 agreed. Faced significant protests from local fishermen and civil society 2011–2012 before commissioning. |
| Tarapur India | 19.84°N 72.71°E | 1,400 | 2 × BWR (old) + 2 × PHWR | Maharashtra | Operational (oldest India) | India's oldest nuclear plant, commissioned 1969. Original 2 × BWR (160 MW each) were supplied by GE, USA — the last US-supplied reactors before the 1974 Pokhran nuclear test ended civil nuclear cooperation. NPCIL added 2 × PHWR 540 MW reactors (Tarapur 3&4) in 2006. The original BWRs are well beyond their design life but kept operating. |
| Kakrapar India | 21.22°N 72.97°E | 900 | 2 × PHWR-220 + 2 × PHWR-700 | Gujarat | Operational | India's first indigenously designed reactor site. Kakrapar-3 (700 MW PHWR) was India's first 700 MW PHWR — a larger, more advanced design. Unit 4 also operational. India is now constructing 10 × 700 MW PHWRs across 5 sites using this design. |
| Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS) | 24.99°N 75.59°E | 1,180 | 6 × PHWR | Rajasthan (Rawatbhata) | Operational | India's largest nuclear site by number of units. RAPS-1 was a Canadian CANDU-type reactor (1972) — relationship ended after 1974 Pokhran test. India redesigned it indigenously. All 6 units operating. Adjacent to Rana Pratap Sagar Dam (24.92°N 75.62°E) which supplies cooling water. |
| Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS/Kalpakkam) | 12.55°N 80.17°E | 440 (MAPS) + 500 (PFBR UC) | 2 × PHWR-220 + Prototype Fast Breeder | Tamil Nadu | MAPS operational; PFBR commissioning | Stage 2 of India's three-stage nuclear programme. Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR, 500 MW) at Kalpakkam is India's first fast breeder reactor — it breeds plutonium from uranium-238, enabling India to eventually use its vast thorium reserves (Stage 3). PFBR commissioning ongoing. India has approximately 25% of world thorium reserves. |
| Kaiga Generating Station | 14.86°N 74.44°E | 880 | 4 × PHWR-220 | Karnataka | Operational · World record | Kaiga Unit 1 set a world record for longest continuous nuclear reactor operation — 962 consecutive days without shutdown (2016–2018), breaking the previous record held by a Canadian CANDU reactor. Karnataka's only nuclear source. |
| Narora Atomic Power Station | 28.20°N 78.40°E | 440 | 2 × PHWR-220 | Uttar Pradesh | Operational | Only nuclear plant in the Gangetic plains. Supplies northern India grid. Had a turbine hall fire in 1993 — recovered safely. Cooling water from Ganga. |
Questions
Questions about nuclear plants
Why is the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant situation in Ukraine so dangerous?
Zaporizhzhia (47.51°N 34.58°E) is Europe's largest nuclear plant — 6 × VVER-1000 reactors totalling 6,000 MW. Russian forces seized the plant in March 2022 during the invasion of Ukraine. All 6 reactors have been shut down (cold shutdown) but still require continuous cooling to prevent the decay heat in spent fuel from causing a meltdown. Cooling requires electricity — the plant normally generates its own, but in shutdown it relies on external grid power or diesel backup generators. The IAEA has documented at least 6 instances where the external power supply was cut by combat damage, requiring diesel backup. Diesel generators have limited fuel supplies (typically 7–10 days). If both external power and diesel fail simultaneously, the cooling pumps stop, spent fuel heats up, and a meltdown becomes possible — as happened at Fukushima after the tsunami cut power. The IAEA established a permanent monitoring presence at the plant from September 2022. The site has also come under artillery fire on multiple occasions — the IAEA has verified damage to infrastructure. Source: IAEA ZAPORIZHZHIA Update Reports 2022–2024.
What is India's three-stage nuclear programme?
India's three-stage nuclear programme was conceived by Homi Bhabha in the 1950s to address India's unusual resource endowment — small uranium reserves but approximately 25% of the world's thorium. Stage 1: PHWRs (Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors) using natural uranium fuel. All current India plants (Tarapur, RAPS, Kakrapar, Kaiga, Narora, MAPS) are Stage 1. They produce plutonium as a byproduct. Stage 2: Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs) using plutonium fuel from Stage 1. FBRs breed more fuel than they consume — specifically, they convert uranium-238 (abundant but non-fissile) into plutonium, and thorium-232 into uranium-233 (fissile). The Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR, 500 MW) at Kalpakkam (12.55°N 80.17°E) is Stage 2 — currently being commissioned. Stage 3: Advanced Reactors using uranium-233 bred from thorium — allowing India to exploit its vast thorium deposits. Stage 3 is still decades away, but Stage 2 is operational. The full programme, if successful, could give India essentially unlimited zero-carbon electricity. Source: NPCIL India · IAEA Country Report India · Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.
Provenance
Attribution and citation
- Sources
- IAEA PRIS (Power Reactor Information System) 2024 · World Nuclear Association Country Profiles · NPCIL Annual Report 2023 · Nuclear Energy Institute · GEM CC BY 4.0
- Cite as
- "World Nuclear Power Plants — GPS-Located", The Energy Codex, https://thecodex.expert/energy/nuclear/plants/, last updated .