Nuclear power reactors produce energy by initiating and controlling a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Currently, over 400 such reactors in 32 countries provide about 10 per cent of the world’s electricity. The IAEA fosters an international information exchange and collaboration on technological innovations in different reactor technologies.
Two conferences on research reactor safety, utilization and operation – in Egypt in 2022 and South Africa in 2025 - helped connect countries developing new research reactor capacity with those that already operate research reactors, encouraging regional knowledge exchange.
- What caused the Chernobyl accident? On , the Number Four RBMK reactor at the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl, Ukraine, went out of control during a test at low-power, leading to an explosion and fire that demolished the reactor building and released large amounts of radiation into the atmosphere. Safety measures were ignored, the uranium fuel in the reactor overheated and ...
The Power Reactor Information System (PRIS), developed and maintained by the IAEA for over five decades, is a comprehensive database focusing on nuclear power plants worldwide. PRIS contains information on power reactors in operation, under construction, or those being decommissioned.
The heat warms the reactor’s cooling agent, typically water, to produce steam. The steam is then channelled to spin turbines, activating an electric generator to create low-carbon electricity. Find more details about the different types of nuclear power reactors on this page. Pressurized water reactors are the most used in the world.
Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs) are nuclear fission reactors in which either the fuel and/or the coolant is a molten salt. Molten salt is salt which liquifies at elevated temperatures and can store massive amounts of thermal energy at atmospheric pressure. When used as fuel the molten salt is dissolved ...