After the Fukushima meltdown, a number of countries began to consider phasing out their nuclear programs,
with Germany expected to shut down its entire nuclear fleet by 2022.
The U.S. has 95 nuclear reactors in operation, but only one new reactor has started up in the last 20 years.
U.S. nuclear electricity generation continues to decline as more reactors retire. In 2021, for the second consecutive year, U.S. nuclear electricity generation declined. Output from U.S. nuclear power plants totaled 778 million megawatthours in 2021, or 1.5% less than the previous year.