January 2012
Key Facts
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NEI estimates that private investment in new nuclear power plants has created 15,000 clean energy jobs over the last few years.
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Each year, the average nuclear plant generates approximately $470 million in sales of goods and services in the local community and nearly $40 million in total labor income. [1]
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Operation of a nuclear plant generates 400 to 700 permanent jobs. These jobs pay 36 percent more than average salaries in the local area.
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The permanent jobs at a nuclear plant create an equivalent number of additional jobs in the local area to provide the goods and services necessary to support the nuclear plant work force (e.g., grocery stores, dry cleaners, car dealers).
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Construction of a new nuclear power plant creates up to 3,500 jobs at peak construction.
Nuclear Plant Economic Benefits
Each year, the average nuclear plant generates approximately $470 million in sales of goods and services (economic output) in the local community and nearly $40 million in total labor income. These figures include both direct and secondary effects. The direct effects reflect the plant’s expenditures for goods, services and labor. The secondary effects include subsequent spending attributable to the presence of the plant and its employees as plant expenditures filter through the local economy (e.g., restaurants and shops buying goods and hiring employees).
Analysis shows that every dollar spent by the average nuclear plant results in the creation of $1.04 in the local community.
The average nuclear plant generates almost $16 million in state and local tax revenue annually. These tax dollars benefit schools, roads, and other state and local infrastructure.
The average nuclear plant generates federal tax payments of approximately $67 million annually.
New Nuclear Plant Construction Will Boost Local, State Economies
Nuclear power plants provide substantial economic benefits during their decades of operation. The jobs, taxes, and direct and secondary spending strengthen the economies of communities with nuclear plants and will give a similar boost to any community hosting a new nuclear plant.
A new nuclear plant represents an investment of $6 billion to $8 billion including interest, depending on plant size.
Construction of a new nuclear power plant will provide a substantial boost to suppliers of commodities like concrete and steel and manufacturers of hundreds of components. For example, a single new nuclear power plant requires approximately:
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400,000 cubic yards of concrete—as much concrete as was used to build the Pentagon
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66,000 tons of steel—the same amount used to build the Empire State Building
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44 miles of piping
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300 miles of electric wiring—enough to stretch from Boston to Philadelphia
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130,000 electrical components.
Affordable Electricity Production
Nuclear power is the lowest-cost producer of baseload electricity. Average nuclear production costs have declined more than 30 percent in the last 10 years, to an average of 2.0 cents per kilowatt-hour. This includes the costs of operating and maintaining the plant, purchasing nuclear fuel, and paying for the management of used fuel.
Compared to coal, natural gas and renewable energy sources, nuclear-generated electricity has tremendous price stability because only 28 percent of production costs are fuel costs. Fuel accounts for 80 percent to 90 percent of the cost of electricity produced by fossil fuel-fired generation, making electricity from fossil plants highly susceptible to fluctuations in coal and gas prices.
The low and stable cost of nuclear power helps reduce the price of electricity paid by consumers.
[1] The estimates in this fact sheet are based on normalized averages from analyses of the economic and employment impact of 22 U.S. nuclear plants. The figures are calculated per megawatt (MW) of installed capacity and reflect a nominal 1,000-MW plant size. The analyses employ the U.S. government’s widely used IMPLAN model for estimating direct and indirect economic and employment effects of industrial activity.