EU's production of nuclear heat down 1.3 pct in 2017

By Ebru Sengul

ANKARA (AA) - Total production of nuclear heat in the EU fell 1.3 percent year on year in 2017 reaching 210.726 kilotons of oil equivalent, according to the latest data released by the EU's statistics watchdog Eurostat on Thursday.

The production in 2017 also showed a decrease of 10 percent compared with 2009, Eurostat noted.

"The production of nuclear heat is considered in energy statistics as the energy source for nuclear energy, i.e. the total amount of heat obtained from the fission of nuclear fuels in nuclear reactors," the statistics body explained.

This heat is subsequently used for the production of electricity or for other useful applications of heat.

Fourteen EU member states had operational nuclear reactors in 2017, namely France, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Spain, Hungary, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, and the U.K.

France was the biggest producer of nuclear heat in 2017 with 103.861 kilotons of oil equivalent, followed by Germany with 19.655 kilotons of oil equivalent, and Sweden with 16.351 kilotons of oil equivalent, according to the Eurostat.