The United States still leads the world in nuclear energy generation but China and Russia are seeing rapid growth in their respective nuclear fleets, according to a recent Energy Information Administration (EIA) analysis.
As of June 2025, the U.S. nuclear fleet of 94 operating reactors has a generating capacity of 97 gigawatts, which amounts to about a quarter of the global nuclear net generation capacity of 376 gigawatts, according to EIA’s Monday analysis.
In 2023 the country’s nuclear electricity contributed to 30% of the global total.
As the U.S. has the largest nuclear fleet and net generating capacity, it is followed by France, China, Russia and South Korea. The five countries contribute 71% of the world’s nuclear generation capacity.
China, which has the third-most operating reactors with 57, is the country with the fastest growth in its nuclear fleet, EIA said. The country commissioned 57 reactors since 1991 and has 29 reactors that will produce 30 gigawatts under construction according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
China has used nuclear technology from countries Canada, France and Russia and more recently the U.S. with its Westinghouse AP1000 reactor. The country is developing a CAP1000 reactor based on the AP1000 design.
While China is building new nuclear reactors expeditiously, Russia, which has 36 operating reactors, is also expanding its nuclear fleet as the country has seven new reactors under construction, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI). However, Russia has put itself in the position of the world’s largest vendor of nuclear generating technology, EIA said.
According to the World Nuclear Association, Rosatom, a Russian state energy corporation, had a $140 billion package of foreign nuclear orders in 2021 and in 2023 the Russian corporation signed a deal with the African Commission on Nuclear Energy to explore collaborating on future nuclear projects.
With China and Russia pushing the envelope in the nuclear sector, President Donald Trump’s administration issued four nuclear-related executive orders to streamline nuclear projects and increase national security in the United States.
The executive actions are designed to accelerate nuclear plant construction in the United States. The majority of U.S. reactors were constructed between 1967 and 1990, with only three reactors being built in the nearly the last 30 years.
The Trump administration has set out an ambitious goal of quadrupling the nuclear generation capacity by 2050. The administration also ordered the overhaul of its domestic nuclear regulator, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to further expedite its processes to build nuclear projects.
