IAEA Upgrades Global Nuclear Reactor Database With Smarter Data Tools

PRIS has been operating since 1969 and has developed into an authoritative global source for information covering reactor status, design characteristics, operating experience and nuclear power development.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has introduced a major update to its Power Reactor Information System (PRIS), giving governments, researchers, nuclear operators and the public a faster and easier way to explore information about nuclear power reactors around the world. The redesigned public website includes an optimized PRIS Data Browser, interactive visualizations, stronger search functions and customizable reports that turn decades of reactor information into data that users can explore more easily.

PRIS has been operating since 1969 and has developed into an authoritative global source for information covering reactor status, design characteristics, operating experience and nuclear power development. The platform attracts more than one million visits each year, while its flagship publication, Nuclear Power Reactors in the World (RDS-2), records more than 20,000 downloads annually and ranks among the IAEA's three most widely used publications.

Reactor Data Becomes Easier to Search and Compare

The centerpiece of the upgraded platform is the new PRIS Data Browser, designed to help users work with decades of nuclear reactor and operational information without requiring them to navigate complicated datasets. Dynamic visualizations and customizable reports allow people to examine historical trends, compare reactor technologies, review performance and access statistical information through a more intuitive interface.

Improved navigation and enhanced search tools also make the system more approachable for people who may not have specialist nuclear expertise. Technical professionals can use the database for detailed analysis, while policymakers, researchers, regulators, students and interested members of the public can explore the same trusted information in a more understandable format.

Aline des Cloizeaux, Director of the IAEA Division of Nuclear Power, described the redevelopment as more than a technical upgrade, pointing to the importance of making nuclear information accessible, useful and engaging for stakeholders worldwide.

The redesigned system also prepares PRIS for changes taking place across the nuclear sector. New reactor technologies are creating different data and reporting needs, particularly as countries and companies develop advanced reactors and small modular reactors (SMRs). A more flexible digital platform gives the IAEA room to expand the information collected and introduce new analytical functions as these technologies move forward.

Years of Digital Work Built the New PRIS Platform

The public website represents the latest stage of a modernization programme that began in 2018, when the IAEA started transforming the system used by Member States to submit and validate reactor information. An important part of that work involved replacing the older PRIS Web-Enabled Data Acquisition System (WEDAS) with the Data Acquisition and Validation Application (DAVA). Introduced successfully in 2020, DAVA strengthened cybersecurity, improved usability and created a more efficient process for handling nuclear power information.

The system modernized the collection and validation of data covering reactor specifications, operations, construction, decommissioning and non-electric applications of nuclear energy. Its development also incorporated recommendations gathered from Member States through technical meetings, consultancy sessions and pilot testing.

Representatives from participating countries played a significant role throughout the process. PRIS liaison officers, nuclear utilities, data providers and international organizations contributed practical feedback, helping the IAEA build a platform suited to the way nuclear information is collected, checked and used in real-world settings.

Another Major Data Upgrade Is Coming in 2027

The newly launched website is the first of two planned releases in the latest stage of PRIS modernization. A second release is scheduled for early 2027 and will introduce additional analytical capabilities while completing the modernization of PRIS statistical applications.

Those improvements are expected to strengthen the platform's ability to track a nuclear industry that is becoming more diverse as established reactor fleets operate alongside new designs and emerging technologies. Better analytical tools could help users identify trends, compare performance and understand changes in nuclear generating capacity across countries and reactor types.

For the IAEA, the upgraded PRIS platform also strengthens the connection between reliable data and informed decision-making. Governments can use reactor information when examining energy strategies, regulators and utilities can study operational experience, and researchers can work with historical and current datasets to understand how nuclear power is developing globally.

More than five decades after PRIS was established, its latest digital transformation gives one of the world's major nuclear information resources a platform designed for a new generation of technologies and users, while keeping verified reactor data at the centre of the system.