The stagnation of the nuclear power industry extended into the 1990s with few new plants being ordered and many ordered plants being cancelled. However, during the 90s a third generation of power plants were being designed to replace the second generation plants constructed in the 70s and 80s. This new design moved the moderator rods to a different location in the plant in order to minimize leaks. Plants with the new design were ordered in the late 90s.
The Kyoto Protocols first signed by several nations in 1997 called for the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by to 5% below the emissions in 1990. This demand for carbon dioxide reduction much of which comes from oil and coal fired power plants and the need to replace old second generation reactors which were scheduled for decommissioning led to pressure for the adoption of nuclear power. While nuclear power stations do not emit carbon dioxide, their construction involves huge quantities of cement which does emit a great deal of carbon dioxide.
The election of George W. Bush, an enthusiastic supporter of nuclear energy to the US Presidency stimulated renewed interest in the expansion of nuclear power generation. In 2004, Bush signed a resolution to allow the US Department of Energy to move forward on the construction of a long term nuclear waste depository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. In 2005, Bush signed the first new US energy bill in more than a decade. The bill included funding for nuclear research, decommissioning of old nuclear power plants, tax credits and loan guarantees for the nuclear industry, and a liability cap in case of serious nuclear accidents. A number of consortia of companies were created to build more nuclear power plants.
In the first decade of the Twenty First Century, design evolution continued with the development of new passive nuclear power plants that relied on natural processes such as gravity, convection, evaporation and condensation to achieve cooling instead of active systems of pumps. Emergency cooling water pools were built above the core so that in an emergency, the water could be easily dropped into the core. Other reactor designs relied on balls of graphite instead of graphite rods or water and were gas cooled.
By 2007, there were over four hundred nuclear power reactions in the world in thirty one countries. France, Japan and the U.S. accounted for over fifty percent of nuclear generated electricity. As of 2010, China had over twenty five reactors under construction with plans to build many more. In the United States almost half of the operating reactors have had their licenses extended to sixty years.
Worldwide, there are currently four hundred and thirty six nuclear reactors generating three hundred and seventy gigawatts of electrical power. Another sixty three are under construction with a combined capacity of sixty gigawatts.
The terrible nuclear accident at Fukushima where a tsunami caused by an earthquake destroyed four reactors a coastal nuclear power plant has caused many countries to reevaluate their reliance on nuclear power generation and their plans for expansion. Most of the power plants in Japan have been shut down for maintenance and then not restarted. Germany has decide to phase out all nuclear power plants by 2022 and Italy has banned nuclear power. The International Atomic Energy Commission has cut its estimated of new nuclear power generation by 2035 in half. However, in the United States, two new reactors were recently licensed for construction in Georgia and there are orders for more reactors.