Nuclear energy has a large presence around the globe. 471 reactors are currently in operation worldwide in over 30 countries[15]. Nuclear makes up a large part of energy production in many countries with 11% of worldwide energy needs met by nuclear power. Some countries are heavily dependant on nuclear power, for example France produces approximately 75% of its total energy from nuclear power[16].
Despite the growth of nuclear energy many countries are against using it as a source of energy production. Following the disastrous 2011 Fukushima Daichii, where a 15 metre tsunami triggered by an earthquake shut off the cooling system to three reactor cores, causing them to go into meltdown.[16.5] Germany began reviewing the safety of all its nuclear
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Iran made steady developments in the nuclear industry and had plans to build it’s first power plant at Bushehr, in 1974, however due to the Iran-Iraq war started by the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, construction of the plant was halted. Russia agreed to finish the construction of the plant and in 2012 it started producing electricity commercially with a peak output of 915 MWe.[22] Since then a further 2 reactors are planned to be constructed at the site. Despite this positive progress Iran's nuclear progress has not been without controversy. In 2002 it was revealed that Iran had been conducting nuclear experiments in secret facilities where it was found to be enriching uranium and producing heavy water, both associated with the production of nuclear weapons. Soon after this was revealed Iran stopped it’s secret nuclear research, however in 2006 it restarted it’s enrichment processes which peaked in 2010 at which point it was producing 20% enriched fuel. This alarmed the members of the UN security council who had previously instructed Iran to stop it’s enrichment processes, as it mean Iran could potentially have weapons grade uranium within a year.[23] When it was revealed that Iran