Timeline · 1979

The world's nuclear fleet in 1979

In 1979, 232 nuclear reactors were operating in 25 countries, 119.5 GWe net, with 193 under construction.

Compared with 1978, the operating fleet grew by 18 reactors. 8 reactors were connected to the grid that year, 6,985 MWe, mostly in France (2), Germany (2) and Russia (2). 1 unit was permanently shut down, 880 MWe. The countries with the most operating capacity were United States (52,429 MWe), Japan (14,428 MWe) and Germany (9,598 MWe).

That year: Three Mile Island. Partial core meltdown at TMI-2, United States.

← Previous year, 1978 · Next year, 1980 → · See this year on the map · Today's rankings

Connected to the grid in 1979

Unit	Country	Type	Model	MWe
Bugey 4	France	PWR	CP0	880
Bugey 5	France	PWR	CP0	880
Greifswald 4	Germany	PWR	VVER-440/V-230	408
Philippsburg 1	Germany	BWR	BWR-69	890
Fukushima Daiichi 6	Japan	BWR	BWR-5	1,067
Kursk 1-2	Russia	LWGR	RBMK-1000	925
Leningrad 1-3	Russia	LWGR	RBMK-1000	925
Goesgen	Switzerland	PWR	KWU 3-loops	1,010

Shut down in 1979

Unit	Country	Type	Model	MWe	Grid connection
Three Mile Island 2	United States	PWR	B & W (DRY)	880	1978

Countries by operating capacity in 1979

#	Country	Reactors	MWe	Under construction
1	United States	71	52,429	53
2	Japan	22	14,428	5
3	Germany	18	9,598	11
4	France	16	6,986	35
5	Russia	22	6,723	10
6	United Kingdom	33	6,688	6
7	Canada	10	5,498	10
8	Sweden	6	4,044	5
9	Switzerland	4	2,113	1
10	Belgium	4	1,862	4
11	Ukraine	2	1,665	5
12	Finland	2	1,397	2
13	Taiwan	2	1,208	4
14	Spain	3	1,067	6
15	Bulgaria	2	816	2
16	South Korea	1	576	3
17	Italy	3	563	1
18	Netherlands	2	537	—
19	India	3	434	5
20	Armenia	1	376	1
21	Argentina	1	340	1
22	Pakistan	1	90	—
23	Kazakhstan	1	52	—
24	Puerto Rico	1	18	—
25	Panama	1	10	—
26	Brazil	0	0	2
27	Czech Republic	0	0	4
28	Hungary	0	0	4
29	Iran	0	0	1
30	Lithuania	0	0	2
31	Mexico	0	0	2
32	Philippines	0	0	1
33	Slovakia	0	0	4
34	Slovenia	0	0	1
35	South Africa	0	0	2