Top 10: Nuclear Power Plants

Nuclear power is a zero carbon energy source during operation because it does not release greenhouse gases when producing electricity. 

While not renewable due to its reliance on finite resources like uranium, it has a much lower environmental impact than fossil fuels and could support the energy transition.

Energy Digital has ranked the Top 10 nuclear power plants by site capacity.

10. Gravelines Nuclear Power Station

Location: Nord, France
Company: EDF
CEO: Bernard Fontana
Capacity: 5.46 GW

The Gravelines plant consists of six nuclear reactors with a nameplate capacity of 900 MW each. 

It met nearly 6% of all French electricity production in 2017 and is cooled with water from the North Sea.

This water carrying waste heat is used for the aquaculture of some types of fish.

Construction began on the plant in 1974 and its first reactors entered service in 1980.

9. Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

Location: Enerhodar, Ukraine
Company: Energoatom
CEO: Pavlo Kovtonyuk
Capacity: 5.7 GW

Zaporizhzhia is Europe’s largest nuclear plant with six VVER-1000 reactors.

The first five reactors were brought online between 1985 and 1989 with the sixth added in 1995. 

The plant was seized during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and has been shut down, with Russian company Rosatom claiming control of the facility. However, it remains the largest nuclear plant in Europe.

8. Hanbit Nuclear Power Plant

Location: Kellanam-do, South Korea
Company: Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power
CEO: Whang Joo-ho
Capacity: 5.88 GW

The Hanbit power plant is located on the west coast of South Korea and uses six pressurised water reactors, with the first beginning operation in 1986 and the last at the end of 2002. 

Its units were constructed by Hyundai Engineering & Construction and accounted for 6% of South Korea’s electricity production in 2022.

The sixth unit features 177 fuel assemblies in the core of the reactor and 28 safety control rods.

7. Yangjiang Nuclear Power Station

Location: Guangdong Province, China
Company: China General Nuclear Power Group
CEO: Gao Ligang
Capacity:  6 GW

Yangjiang Nuclear Power Station began full commercial operation in July 2019 and has a nameplate capacity of 6 GW. 

Ground was broken for the plant in 2008.

Yangjiang 5 is the first construction of an ACPR-1000 reactor and was the first Chinese reactor to have a domestically developed digital control system. 

The plant supplies its electricity to the local power grid company Guangdong Power Grid.

6. Bruce Nuclear Generating Station

Location: Ontario, Canada
Company: Ontario Power Generation
CEO: Nicolle Butcher
Capacity: 6.55 GW

The Bruce Nuclear Generating Station is operated by Bruce Power and owned by Ontario Power Generation. 

It is the largest employer in Bruce County and has eight CANDU pressurised heavy water reactors arranged into two plants with four reactors each.

Water used to cool the plant is released back to Lake Huron after use.

In 2023, the plant produced around 7% of total Canadian electricity consumption.

5. Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant

Location: Jiangsu Province, China
Company: China National Nuclear Corporation
Chairman: Yu Jianfeng
Capacity: 6.6 GW

The Tianwan power plant is on the coast of the Yellow Sea and operated by Jiangsu Nuclear Power Corporation, a joint venture led by the China National Nuclear Corporation. 

It has six operational units with a further two planned for 2027 which will add a further 2.5 GW to the plant’s existing capacity of 6.6 GW. 

Four of the operational units use VVER reactor technology and two use ACPR reactor technology. The two future reactors will use an updated VVER design capable of around 1.2 GW.

4. Fuqing Nuclear Power Plant

Location: Fujian Province, China
Company: China National Nuclear Corporation
Chairman: Yu Jianfeng
Capacity: 6.65 GW

Construction of the Fuqing Nuclear Power Plant began in 2008 on the coast of Xinghua Bay and the first unit was completed in 2014. 

It has four 1,089 MW CPR-1000 reactors and two Hualong One updated Generation III CPR-1000 reactors.

The world’s first Hualong One reactor in Unit 5 achieved 1,000 days of continuous safe and stable operation in May 2025 and CNNC estimates its output is equivalent to reducing more than seven million tonnes of carbon emissions per year.

3. Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Plant

Location: Liaoning Province, China
Company: China General Nuclear Power Group
CEO: Gao Ligang
Capacity: 6.71 GW

Hongyanhe is China’s biggest nuclear plant with six reactors totalling 6.71 GW of capacity. 

It is located in Dalian, a port city and the third most populous in Northeast China.

Construction on the facility began in 2007 and the first unit began commercial operations in June 2013. It reached full operational capacity on 24 June 2022. 

Phase I of the plant uses four CPR-1000 reactors and Phase II uses two ACPR1000 reactors.

2. Kori Nuclear Power Plant

Location: Busan, South Korea
Company: Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power
CEO: Whang Joo-ho
Capacity: 7.78 GW

The Kori Nuclear Power Plant has seven operational reactors with a total capacity of 7.78 GW. 

The first reactor at the Kori plant began commercial operation in 1978 and was decommissioned in 2017. Units 2, 3 and 4 began operation in the 1980s.

Four more units, known as Skin Kori, began construction as an expansion in 2006, adding 5 GW of nameplate capacity to the plant. Shin Kori 3 and 4 have since been renamed Saeul 1 and 2. 

Saeul 3 and 4 are under construction and will add a further 2.8 GW of nameplate capacity to the site when completed.

1. Hanul Nuclear Power Plant

Location: North Gyeongsang, South Korea
Company: Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power
CEO: Whang Joo-ho
Capacity: 9.14 GW

The Hanul nuclear site, formerly Ulchin, has eight operating reactors, Hanul 1 to 6 and Shin Hanul 1 and 2. 

Shin Hanul units 3 and 4 are expected to be completed by 2033 and add a further 2.68 GW of capacity. Construction on these units began in 2024. 

The site is located on the east coast of South Korea and uses water from the Sea of Japan for cooling.

Construction of Hanul 1 began in 1983 and it began operation in 1988. Shin Hanul 2, the newest operational reactor, began construction in 2013 and became operational in 2023 after its 241 fuel assemblies were loaded. 

Hanul units 1 and 2 use France CPI reactors and units 3 through 6 use OPR-1000 reactors.

Both of the operational Shin Hanul units use APR-1400 reactors. 

In 2024, roughly 10% of the country’s electricity generation came from the Hanul nuclear plant, around 61,985 GWh.