July 6, 2012. World nuclear power production dropped by a record 4.3 percent as the global financial crisis and the Fukushima disaster in Japan prompted plant shutdowns and slowed construction of new sites. Reactors generated 2,518 terawatt-hours of electricity, down from 2,630 terawatt-hours in 2010, according to the World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2012. Atomic power accounted for 11 percent of all electricity generation. The meltdown of Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Dai- Ichi plant in March last year drove countries including Germany, Switzerland and Taiwan to announce their withdrawal from nuclear power. Global output was further restricted as nations put new- build plans on hold amid safety concern and economic stagnation, forcing utilities to study extending the lives of current sites. Seven reactors began operating in 2011 and 19 were shuttered, the report shows. France, Germany, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the U.S. -- six of the 31 countries that produce atomic power -- generated more than 70 percent of the total.