New US orders ceased by the end of the 1970s (not because of the safety fears engendered by the Three Mile Island accidents, but mainly because of cost overruns); similar orders had (France excepting) almost stopped in Europe and they slowed down in Japan and in the USSR, particularly after the Chernobyl disaster in 1985. The share of nuclear generation peaked at 16.8% of the world’s electricity in 1987 and then stagnated around that level for the remainder of the 20th century.
