Key Issues
Graphics and Charts
U.S. Nuclear Industry Capacity Factors (1971 - 2007)
Over the past two decades, nuclear power plants have achieved increasingly higher capacity factors with the same or greater levels of safety. The average capacity factor for U.S. plants in operation in 1980 was 56.3 percent; in 1990, 66 percent; and in 2007, 91.8 percent.
U.S. Electricity Production Costs (1995 - 2006)
This line graph shows average U.S. electricity production costs between 1995 and 2006 for nuclear, coal, gas, and oil.
Monthly Fuel Cost to U.S. Electric Utilities (1995 - 2006)
This line graph shows U.S. electric utilities’ monthly fuel costs for nuclear, coal, gas, and oil between 1995 and 2006.
Fuel as a Percentage of Electric Power Industry Production Costs (2006)
This bar chart shows the percentage of electric industry production costs attributable to fuel for nuclear, coal, gas and oil in 2006.
U.S. Nuclear Refueling Outage Days (Average, 1990-2007)
This bar chart shows the average length of refueling outages for U.S. nuclear plants.