The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to nuclear power: Nuclear power – the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity. What type of thing is nuclear power? Nuclear power can be described as all of the following: Nuclear technology (outline) – technology that involves the reactions of atomic nuclei. Among the notable nuclear technologies are nuclear power, nuclear medicine, and nuclear weapons. It has found applications from smoke detectors to nuclear reactors, and from gun sights to nuclear weapons. Electricity generation – the process of generating electric energy from other forms of energy. The fundamental principles of electricity generation were discovered during the 1820s and early 1830s by the British scientist Michael Faraday. His basic method is still used today: electricity is generated by the movement of a loop of wire, or disc of copper between the poles of a magnet. Science of nuclear power Nuclear engineering Nuclear chemistry Nuclear fission Nuclear physics Atomic nucleus Ionizing radiation Nuclear fission Radiation Radioactivity Radioisotope thermoelectric generator Steam generator (nuclear power) Nuclear material Nuclear material Nuclear fuel Fertile material Thorium Uranium Enriched uranium Depleted uranium Plutonium Deuterium Tritium Nuclear reactor technology Nuclear reactor technology Types of nuclear reactors Advanced gas-cooled reactor Boiling water reactor Fast breeder reactor Fast neutron reactor Gas-cooled fast reactor Generation IV reactor Integral Fast Reactor Lead-cooled fast reactor Liquid-metal-cooled reactor Magnox reactor Molten salt reactor Pebble bed reactor Pressurized water reactor Sodium-cooled fast reactor Supercritical water reactor Very high temperature reactor Dangers of nuclear power Lists of nuclear disasters and radioactive incidents Nuclear reactor accidents in the United States Radioactive waste Nuclear proliferation Nuclear terrorism Radioactive contamination Notable accidents 2011 Japanese nuclear accidents 1986 List of Chernobyl-related articles 1985 Soviet submarine K-431 1979 Three Mile Island accident 1968 Soviet submarine K-27 1961 Soviet submarine K-19 History of nuclear power History of nuclear power Atomic Energy Commission (disambiguation) History of uranium Lists of nuclear disasters and radioactive incidents United Nations Atomic Energy Commission (1946-1948) United States Atomic Energy Commission (1946-1974) Nuclear renaissance Nuclear power industry Environmental impact of nuclear power Nuclear renaissance Relative cost of electricity generated by different sources Uranium mining Uranium mining debate Nuclear power plant Uranium processing