POWER STATION – Facilities that use nuclear fission to generate electricity for civilian use. They form the backbone of nuclear energy infrastructure worldwide.

RESEARCH REACTOR – Smaller reactors used primarily for scientific research, materials testing, and training. They do not typically produce electricity but are crucial for innovation and isotope production.

FUEL PRODUCTION – Sites involved in the fabrication of nuclear fuel, from uranium enrichment to fuel assembly manufacturing, supplying both reactors and research facilities.

WASTE MANAGEMENT – Locations dedicated to the safe handling, storage, treatment, and disposal of radioactive waste, ranging from low-level medical waste to high-level spent fuel.

RESEARCH INSTITUTE – Organisations conducting advanced studies in nuclear science, often overlapping with academia or government research, and supporting policy, safety, and technology development.

DEFENCE – Classified or restricted-access facilities related to national defence, including nuclear weapon development, naval propulsion systems, and strategic stockpile maintenance.

MEDICAL – Institutions that produce radioactive materials for diagnosis, treatment, and research.

OTHER – A catch-all category for sites that don’t fit neatly into the above, including the production of tritium for consumer goods or the production of heavy water for use in reactors.

MULTI-PURPOSE – Complexes that serve multiple nuclear roles, such as fuel production, research, waste management, and energy.

WEAPONS TESTING – Now largely decommissioned or inactive, these were remote sites used during the 20th century for detonating nuclear devices, leaving behind deep geopolitical and environmental legacies. Note, this category only features the most significant sites, due to the shear number of nuclear detonations (over 2000) which have taken place throughout history.