European Commission - Eurostat

Unit E.5: Energy

European Commission - Eurostat

Unit ESTAT.E.5: Energy

L-2920 Luxembourg

These are statistics concerning the civil use of nuclear energy. The variables are:

• enrichment capacity,
• production capacity of fresh fuel elements,
• production capacity of MOX fuel fabrication plants,
• production of fresh fuel elements,
• production of MOX fuel elements,
• production of nuclear heat,
• annual average burnup of definitively discharged irradiated fuel elements,
• production of Uranium and Plutonium in reprocessing plants and
• production capacity of Uranium and Plutonium of reprocessing plants.

Data collection covers in principle Member States of the European Union, Iceland and Norway. However, only 13 EU Member States (Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, France, Hungary, The Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, and Sweden) operate nuclear reactors. Data for UK is available until 2019.

EU aggregate is shown for all variables, except for annual average burnout of definitely disharged irradiated elements.

Energy statistics is an integral part of the European system of statistics. Therefore, they also rely on classifications and nomenclatures developed in other fields.

Not available.

The definitions of the variables used in this database are the following:

1. Enrichment capacity. It refers to the annual separative work capacity of operational enrichment plants, which separate or concentrate the Uranium-235 isotope, from 0.7 % to 3-5 %. This operation is necessary in order to obtain suitable nuclear fuel.

2. Production of fresh fuel elements in nuclear fuel fabrication plants. It refers to the step following enrichment in the nuclear fuel cycle, in other words, the process in which the nuclear fuel is manufactured in order to be utilized in nuclear power reactors. Rods or other partial products are not included. Fabrication plants producing MOX fuel are also excluded.

3. Production capacity of fresh fuel elements. It refers to the annual production capacity of fuel fabrication plants. MOX fuel fabrication plants are excluded.

4. Production of MOX fuel elements. It refers to the production of finished fresh Mixed Oxide (mixture of Plutonium and Uranium) fuel elements in MOX fuel fabrication plants. Rods or other partial products are not included.

5. Production capacity of MOX fuel fabrication plants. It refers to the annual production capacity of MOX fuel fabrication plants.

6. Production of nuclear heat. It refers to the total amount of heat generated by nuclear reactors (heat content of the steam leaving the reactor) for the production of electricity or for other useful applications of heat (there are a few cases where some steam is taken from reactors and used for district heating purposes as well as electricity generation).

7. Annual average burnup of definitively discharged irradiated fuel elements. Burnup refers to the extent to which nuclear fuel is consumed in a reactor and is a measure of how much energy is extracted from a primary nuclear fuel source. The annual average burnup refers to the calculated average of the burnup of the fuel elements which have been definitively discharged from the nuclear reactors during the concerned reference year. Excludes fuel elements that are temporarily discharged and are likely to be reloaded again later.

8. Production of Uranium and Plutonium in reprocessing plants. Reprocessing consists of recovering fissile and fertile materials from used nuclear fuel in order to provide fresh fuel for existing and future nuclear power plants. The process of reprocessing used nuclear fuel allows the recovery of unused uranium and plutonium from the original fuel and reduces the volume of material to be disposed of as high-level waste.

9. Capacity (Uranium and Plutonium) of reprocessing plants. It refers to the annual reprocessing capacity of Uranium and Plutonium.

The statistical unit is the nuclear facility.

Not available.

- all Member States of the European Union,

- EFTA-countries,

- Candidate countries,

- Potential candidate countries

From 2009 onwards.

Not applicable.

- ktoe (thousand tonnes of oil equivalent) for the production of nuclear heat

- GWd/tHM (gigawatt-days per tonne of heavy metal) for the annual average burnup of definitively discharged irradiated fuel elements

- tSWU (tonnes of separative work units) for the enruchment capacity

- tHM (tonnes of heavy metal) for the production and production capacity of fuel elements (fresh and MOX), Uranium and Plutonium.

Annual energy statistics refer to the calendar year (January - December).

Nuclear infrastructure figures are compiled on the basis of the data collected under the standard collection cycles of the "Energy Statistics Unit" (more concretely, with the nuclear questionnaire). The relevant energy data collections are regulated since 2008 with the entry-into-force of the Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2008 on Energy Statistics.

Eurostat does not have any agreements or procedures in place for data sharing of annual energy statistics. Eurostat copyright rules apply: free re-use, both for non-commercial and commercial purposes.

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recitals 23-27, 31-32 and Articles 20-26) applies. It stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.

Confidential data are not shown and not used for the calculation of EU aggregates.  

According to Regulation (EC) 1099/2008 on energy statistics, annual nuclear energy statistics need to be published on 31 January of the year t+2, being t the reference year. The data are typically published in December of the year t+1.

Release calendar is available on Eurostat's website.

In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Accessibility and clarity') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.

Data are disseminated on an annual basis.

Not applicable.

Statistics Explained article: Nuclear energy statistics.

Dissemination is maintained on Eurostat's database: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/energy/data/database.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Data are collected within the framework of the annual nuclear energy questionnaire.

The following methodological considerations apply to this data collection:

- Nuclear heat: Estimation of the heat content of the steam from the reactor is used when actual values are not available. When estimation is needed, the primary heat production value for nuclear plants is derived from the gross electricity generation, using a thermal efficiency of 33%. Where some of the steam direct from the reactor is used for purposes other than electricity generation, the estimated primary production value must be adjusted to include it.

- Annual average burnup of definitively discharged irradiated fuel elements: Although there is not yet a common methodology for the calculation of this parameter, the recommended calculation methodology (which is the most frequently used by Member States) applies the following two main aspects:

• The weighting factor is the mass of the fuel assemblies definitively discharged (no estimation is done by using the amount of electricity produced).
• Only fuel assemblies definitively discharged during the reference year are taken into account for the calculation of the average (no yearly average is estimated).

However, some countries apply or have applied a different methodology, for example:

- Bulgaria: the average value of the fuel assembly is calculated since its loading into the core until the current moment, independently of whether the power plant has discharged on the reporting year or not.

- United Kingdom: before 2013, the average burnup figure for each type of plant was estimated by weighting the percentage of nuclear electricity supplied by each reactor type. From 2013 onwards, United Kingdom applied the common methodology. UK obtained a lower value than in previous years because of 3 Magnox nuclear stations which are still discharging fuel but are no longer generating electricity and were not taken into account in previous years' calculations. Since it was not possible to recalculate previous years on the same basis, a break in series is shown for 2013.

Please see information presented in section 10.6. "Documentation on methodology" and consult the quality documentation on energy statistics website - section "QUALITY".

Eurostat carries out quality tests, mainly on the coherency of the provided information. In addition, the questionnaires used for data transmission also have built-in coherency tests.

This dataset is a part of the energy statistics defined in Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008 on energy statistics. It is considered as European statistics and consequently the ESS framework for quality applies. In addition, they are integrated in the Quality Reporting cycle that takes place every five years. Quality reports for energy statistics are based on Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008 on energy statistics.

Energy data are subject to several validation checks, among which the time series checks, the consistency & completeness checks, plausibility checks, energy transformation efficiency checks and other checks corresponding to levels 0-3 of the ESS.VIP on validation. Validation on levels 4-5 is not consistently performed.

If there are any doubts as regards data quality, Eurostat contacts reporting countries to provide necessary justifications or corrections.

Annual nuclear energy statistics are collected and published by Eurostat in order to:

• Provide the Commission with harmonised, reliable and relevant statistical information needed to define, implement, monitor and evaluate Commission policies in the nuclear energy sector.
• Provide the EU institutions, national administrations, enterprises, professional associations and EU citizens with high quality statistical services and products in the field of energy.

Eurostat conducts two types of evaluations that assess Eurostat's performance in general:

• Evaluations of the Community Statistical Programmes
• User Satisfaction Surveys

Please see more details on the Eurostat website.

Published data are complete, since they contain the nine indicators relating to nuclear energy statistics, as specified by Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008 on energy statistics and its amendments.

Data on nuclear energy statistics are submitted in the annual nuclear energy questionnaire. The accuracy of the basic data depends on the quality of the national statistical systems and may vary from country to country.

Not available.

Not available.

As per the relevant Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008 on energy statistics and its amendments, nuclear energy data are provided 11 months after the reference year and published 13 months after the reference year.

This set of data was published for the first time on 27 January 2014 (with data from 2009 to 2012).

The yearly publication always complies with the legal deadline.

For reference year 2021, all data were published by 15 December 2022.

Common methodologies are discussed to ensure a maximum comparability and Eurostat verifies to the extent possible if the reported data are comparable for different countries. However, the underlying data collection methods are the responsibility of the Member States. In order to enhance comparability, methodological developments are discussed within the framework of Task Forces or the Energy Statistics Working Group.

Common methodologies are discussed to ensure a maximum comparability and Eurostat verifies to the extent possible if the reported data are comparable over time. However, the underlying data collection methods are the responsibility of the Member States. Methodological developments are discussed within the framework of Task Forces or the Energy Statistics Working Group.

Detailed analysis at national level provides assurance of consistency of the quantitative data included in this dissemination. Cross domain validation checks are possible in certain domains with data from other organisations.

Data are checked in detail for internal consistency/coherence in full cooperation with the Member States concerned.

Not available.

To further specify the general Eurostat revision policy, the following revision policy has been established for energy statistics.

The revision practice effectively corresponds to the revision practice of the domain, as listed under sub‑concept 17.1 (data revision – policy).

Reported errors are assessed for seriousness to determine whether they should trigger a correction of already disseminated data. When relevant, reported errors are corrected in the disseminated data as soon as the correct data have been validated.

Data may be published even if they are missing for certain countries or flagged as provisional or of low reliability for certain countries. They are replaced with final data once transmitted and validated. European aggregates are updated for consistency with new country data. Whenever new data are provided and validated, the already disseminated data are updated either right away or with the next regular production cycle, depending on the impact of the change. 

Time series breaks caused by major revisions are flagged. Whenever feasible, back-calculation is applied to provide break-free data.

Major revisions are pre-announced using the revision pre-announcement form. They are also documented in the validation exchanges with countries (available in Ares). In addition, major revisions (those with a visible impact on policy indicators) and their impact are analysed by asking countries for more information and by reflecting on its impact on major policy indicators. They are communicated e.g. via the relevant Statistics Explained article.

Data are obtained from the National Administrations competent for energy statistics. In Italy, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Malta, Estonia, Slovenia, Poland, Rumania and Bulgaria it is the statistical office that sends the questionnaires to Eurostat, while for the remaining Member States it is the Ministry responsible for energy or a National energy Agency/Authority that is providing the energy data.

Data is collected on an annual basis.

In the field of energy statistics no specific data collection technique is imposed by Eurostat. It is the responsibility of National Authorities to collect the relevant basic energy data required for filling-in the questionnaires and report them to Eurostat following the prescribed methodology. National data collection methods vary significantly from country to country.

Questionnaires in standardized electronic format are collected from the national authorities via data transmission over the Internet. Data files have to be transmitted by the Member States to Eurostat via the Single Entry Point (SEP) following the implementing procedures of eDAMIS (electronic Data files Administration and Management Information System - : https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/edamis).

Eurostat carries out quality tests, mainly on the coherency of the provided information.

Member States report to Eurostat basic data in the relevant units (see point 4). Country aggregations, such as European Union, are formed by the aggregation of data from individual countries. No conversion to common units is done.

No adjustments of data are performed.

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