Research Briefing
Nuclear energy statistics
The UK had the first civilian nuclear power station in the world and increased its nuclear output for most of the latter half of the twentieth century. The last nuclear power station to be built in the UK started operating in 1995. Since then output has fallen as some older power stations have been decommissioned. The UK now has among the lowest share of generation from nuclear of all countries with nuclear power. Some aging nuclear power stations have had their operating life extended, but the majority are due to close over the next decade. No new nuclear capacity is due to come online until around 2020. One consequence of being a pioneer of civil nuclear power is large ongoing financial liability for decommissioning old power stations and managing nuclear waste.