Fission is not necessarily available to every country on earth. Only those geographic locations with deposits of uranium can successfully operate a fission power plant. Although the occurrence of uranium in the earth's crust is approximately 2 parts per million, only about 1% of that uranium is suitable for fission (only uranium 235 is "fissile", or fissionable). In 1990 world production of uranium-235 was 29,100 tons. A fission power plant requires 15 lbs of uranium-235 per month to produce 60,000 kW of energy.

England was the first country to begin to use nuclear power. However, in 1957 the United States was the first to use a nuclear reactor to distribute electricity. The following years saw an increase in demand for fission power both in the United States and elsewhere in the world. People were beginning to move away from the burning of fossil fuels to generate electricity. However, as safety concerns increased and demand for electricity decreased, the role of fission power diminished.