Nuclear power in North Korea

nuclearchain.net/countries/north-korea/ · data: Global Energy Monitor (GNPT, August 2026), CC BY 4.0 · printed from the live page

North Korea operates 1 nuclear power reactor across 3 sites, with 0.0 GW of gross capacity.

Operating

0.0 GW gross

Under construction

Planned

incl. 0 announced

Retired

4 cancelled

Operating1circle area ∝ site capacity Coastlines, borders and lakes: Natural Earth (1:10 million, public domain), which is generalised, so a coastal plant can sit a couple of kilometres off its true shoreline. Site positions: Global Nuclear Power Tracker.

Operating fleet by type: GCR (1).

Operating capacity over time

First reactor online1985

Peak0.0 GW in 1985

Now0.0 GW 1 unit

2026 so farno change

Gross capacity of units that had started up and not been permanently shut down by 31 December each year (2026 is to date). Amber marks the peak, green the present. 1 unit is left out because it has no date to place on a timeline; mothballed units carry no date for going offline, and a guess would add capacity the record does not support.

Data table

Year	Units online	GW gross	Change, GW
1985	1	0.01	+0.01

Only years in which capacity changed are listed.

Position in the fuel chain

Facility	Stage	Operator	Capacity / output
Yongbyon enrichment plant	enrichment	General Bureau of Atomic Energy	not disclosed
Kangson	enrichment	General Bureau of Atomic Energy	not disclosed

All units in North Korea

Unit	Site	Status	Type	Gross MW	Online
Nyongbyon nuclear power plant 1	Nyongbyon nuclear power plant	Operating	GCR	5	1985
Nyongbyon nuclear power plant 2	Nyongbyon nuclear power plant	Cancelled	GCR	50	-
Nyongbyon nuclear power plant 3	Nyongbyon nuclear power plant	Mothballed	LWGR	30	2023
Sinpo nuclear power plant 1	Sinpo nuclear power plant	Cancelled	PWR	1,000	-
Sinpo nuclear power plant 2	Sinpo nuclear power plant	Cancelled	PWR	1,000	-
Taechon nuclear power plant	Taechon nuclear power plant	Cancelled	GCR	200	-

Fuel supply exposure

The fuel families North Korea's operating reactors take, and the fabricators our sources document as able to make each. This is capability, not contracts: it does not say who actually supplies a given plant.