Top 10 Countries With Nuclear Power - Part [2/2]

6. Hungary

According to the European Energy Commission, the development of wind and solar power in Hungary are practically inexistent. Moreover, the Hungarian officials did not announce any plans to use the might of the Danube watercourse in order to produce energy. As you can see, Hungary is practically forced to rely on nuclear power in order to account for the country’s electricity needs. While they hope to stimulate economic growth via cheap energy, the costs of production at this point are rather high, considering that Hungary imports uranium from Russia.

7. Sweden

Even before the Chernobyl disaster, the Swedish officials ruled nuclear power out of the possible energy sources for the country. Yet, in 2009 Sweden has reconsidered the original decision and nowadays, they own 3 nuclear plants accounting for over 42% of the country’s energy. Nevertheless, the topic of nuclear capacity is controversial in Sweden, especially since its effects on the GDP cannot be predicted. In addition, there are a lot of worries in regards to the nuclear security as well as the possibility of a disaster after the Barseback shutdown.

8. Slovenia

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Slovenia has known an impressive economic growth. Since a heavy weight economy could not be sustained by their current energy resources, Slovenia had to rely on the cheap and effective nuclear power. However, Slovenia did more than that and its Westinghouse nuclear plants do not only account for over 41% of the country’s energy needs, but also contribute to the per capita GDP growth (it is estimated that Slovenia sells about 6 million kWh to the neighboring countries).

9. Switzerland

Not until long ago, Switzerland relied on the numerous lakes and mountaintops to produce energy. However, with the alarming global warming affects, the country had to switch to the next best thing, namely nuclear power. In fact, the developments in this sector were quite impressive, considering that Switzerland currently gets 40% of the energy from nuclear facilities.

10. Armenia

While the notorious Metsamor nuclear complex produced approximately 40% of Armenia’s energy, the reactor is closely monitored and labeled as one of the biggest threats in this part of the world. In spite of the fact that several organizations have clearly asked for the decommissioning of the reactor and the Armenian officials promised to close it by 2004, the Metsamor remains the main source of energy. The good news is that Armenia is currently working close with Turkey to build a new and safer reactor on the Metsamor grounds.

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