CONSTRUCTION STRATEGIES
When the focus of nuclear fission development shifted from bomb making to electricity generation after the Second World War , it seemed that an escape from dependency on fossil fuel burning was a real possibility . Nuclear reactors started to appear through the 1950s , with construction of these power plants ramping up significantly through the ensuing decades , reaching its peak in the mid-1980s before the 1986 Chernobyl disaster .
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Although confidence in nuclear plummeted and project numbers steadily fell , reactors continued to be built , and the levels of new commissions have remained relatively stable barring the years around the 2008 financial crash .
China in particular took on the mantle , and while the world hesitated once more following the meltdown at Fukushima in 2011 , it alone opened 20 new reactors in the years up to 2017 . This represents around two thirds of all new reactor startups , with Russia , Argentina and the US the only non-Asian countries switching on nuclear power stations .
However , even China , the great bastion of the nuclear industry , is showing signs of slowdown . Last year it started up three new reactors and commenced construction on just one . As of 1 January 2018 , there are 52 reactors under construction , with Bangladesh , India and South Korea each commissioning one new build alongside China .
If nuclear fission is indeed to provide its part of
JULY 2018