Editing Nuclear power (section)

===Chernobyl and renaissance===
[[File:Центр города Припять на фоне 4 энергоблокаа ЧАЭС.jpg|thumb|The town of [[Pripyat (city)|Pripyat]] abandoned since 1986, with the Chernobyl plant and the [[Chernobyl New Safe Confinement]] arch in the distance]]
[[File:OL3.jpg|thumb|[[Olkiluoto 3]] under construction in 2009. It was the first [[EPR (nuclear reactor)|EPR]], a modernized PWR design, to start construction. ]]
During the 1980s one new nuclear reactor started up every 17&nbsp;days on average.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thorpe |first1=Gary S. |title=AP Environmental Science, 6th ed. |date=2015 |publisher=Barrons Educational Series |isbn=978-1-4380-6728-5}} {{ISBN|1-4380-6728-3}}</ref> By the end of the decade, global installed nuclear capacity reached 300{{nbsp}}GW. Since the late 1980s, new capacity additions slowed significantly, with the installed nuclear capacity reaching 366{{nbsp}}GW in 2005.

The 1986 [[Chernobyl disaster]] in the [[USSR]], involving an [[RBMK]] reactor, altered the development of nuclear power and led to a greater focus on meeting international safety and regulatory standards.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/focus/chernobyl|title=Chernobyl Nuclear Accident|date=14 May 2014|website=www.iaea.org|publisher=IAEA|access-date=23 March 2021|archive-date=11 June 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611102751/http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Focus/Chernobyl/|url-status=live}}</ref> It is considered the worst nuclear disaster in history both in total casualties, with 56 direct deaths, and financially, with the cleanup and the cost estimated at 18{{nbsp}}billion{{nbsp}}[[Soviet rouble|Rbl]]s (US$68{{nbsp}}billion in 2019, adjusted for inflation).<ref name="OECD02-Ch2">{{cite web|url=https://www.oecd-nea.org/rp/reports/2003/nea3508-chernobyl.pdf|title=Chernobyl: Assessment of Radiological and Health Impact, 2002 update; Chapter II – The release, dispersion and deposition of radionuclides|year=2002|publisher=OECD-NEA|access-date=3 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150622010856/https://www.oecd-nea.org/rp/reports/2003/nea3508-chernobyl.pdf|archive-date=22 June 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="GorbachevBoC">{{cite AV media |url=https://www.andanafilms.com/catalogueFiche.php?idFiche=255&rub=Toutes%20les%20fiches%20films |title=The battle of Chernobyl |date=2006 |publisher=Play Film / Discovery Channel |access-date=2021-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307205137/https://www.andanafilms.com/catalogueFiche.php?idFiche=255&rub=Toutes%20les%20fiches%20films |archive-date=2021-03-07 |url-status=live |people=Johnson, Thomas (author/director)}} (see 1996 interview with Mikhail Gorbachev.)</ref> The international organization to promote safety awareness and the professional development of operators in nuclear facilities, the [[World Association of Nuclear Operators]] (WANO), was created as a direct outcome of the 1986 Chernobyl accident. The Chernobyl disaster played a major part in the reduction in the number of new plant constructions in the following years.<ref name=wolfgang/> Influenced by these events, Italy voted against nuclear power in a 1987 referendum,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sassoon |first=Donald |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W8K3AwAAQBAJ&dq=Italy+voted+against+nuclear+power+in+a+1987+referendum&pg=PT179 |title=Contemporary Italy: Politics, Economy and Society Since 1945 |date=2014-06-03 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-89377-6 |language=en}}</ref> becoming the first country to completely phase out nuclear power in 1990.

In the early 2000s, nuclear energy was expecting a [[nuclear renaissance]], an increase in the construction of new reactors, due to concerns about [[carbon dioxide emissions]].<ref name=":1">{{cite news |date=2011-03-14 |title=Analysis: Nuclear renaissance could fizzle after Japan quake |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-quake-nuclear-analysis-idUSTRE72C41W20110314 |access-date=2011-03-14 |archive-date=2015-12-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208211554/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-quake-nuclear-analysis-idUSTRE72C41W20110314 |url-status=live }}</ref> During this period, newer [[generation III reactor]]s, such as the [[EPR (nuclear reactor)|EPR]] began construction.
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<gallery mode="packed" heights="130px" style="text-align:left">
Global electricity generation by energy source.png|Net [[electrical generation]] by source and growth from 1980. In terms of energy generated between 1980 and 2010, the contribution from fission grew the fastest.
Electricity in France.svg|[[Electricity sector in France|Electricity production in France]], showing the shift to nuclear power. {{legend|#D55E00|thermofossil}}{{legend|#0072B2|hydroelectric}}{{legend|#F0E442|nuclear}}{{legend|#009E73|Other renewables}}
Nuclear-energy-timeline.svg|The rate of new reactor constructions essentially halted in the late 1980s. Increased [[capacity factor]] in existing reactors was primarily responsible for the continuing increase in electrical energy produced during this period.
Nuclear power generation in different countries.svg|Electricity generation trends in the top producing countries (Our World in Data)
</gallery>