Focus: Asia

Six Asian countries possess nuclear power programs--China, India, Japan, Pakistan, South Korea, and Taiwan. In 2007, they generated 523 terawatt hours--or 20 percent--of the world's nuclear electricity. That, however, represented a 3.5 percent drop in the continent's nuclear generation when compared to 2006. The decrease was mainly due to the earthquake-induced shutdown of the seven-unit plant at Kashiwazaki, Japan, in July 2007. Overall, the 111 nuclear reactors operating in Asia provided an average of 7.6 percent of the region's electricity--or 3 percent of its commercial primary energy. That average masks wide differences between Asian countries. While China and Pakistan generate only 1 percent with nuclear, South Korea generates 14 percent. And Japan alone accounts for half of the region's nuclear electricity generation.