Resources & Stats
Costs: Fuel, Operation and Waste Disposal
Production Costs
Fuel CostsThis is the total annual cost associated with the "burnup" of nuclear fuel resulting from the operation of the unit. This cost is based upon the amortized costs associated with the purchasing of uranium, conversion, enrichment, and fabrication services along with storage and shipment costs, and inventory (including interest) charges less any expected salvage value.
For a typical 1,000 MWe BWR or PWR, the approximate cost of fuel for one reload (replacing one third of the core) is about $40 million, based on an 18-month refueling cycle. The average fuel cost at a nuclear power plant in 2007 was 0.47 cents / kWh.
Because nuclear plants refuel every 18-24 months, they are not subject to fuel price volatility like natural gas and oil power plants.
Operations & Maintenance (O&M) Costs
This is the annual cost associated with the operation, maintenance, administration, and support of a nuclear power plant. Included are costs related to labor, material & supplies, contractor services, licensing fees, and miscellaneous costs such as employee expenses and regulatory fees. The average non-fuel O&M cost for a nuclear power plant in 2007 was 1.29 cents / kWh.
Production Costs
Production costs are the O&M and fuel costs at a power plant. Since 2001, nuclear power plants have achieved the lowest production costs between coal, natural gas and oil.
Fuel costs make up 27 percent of the overall production costs of nuclear power plants. Fuel costs for coal, natural gas and oil, however, make up more than 75 percent of the production costs.
- Fuel as a Percentage of Electric Power Industry Production Costs
- U.S. Nuclear Industry Production Costs by Quartile
- U.S. Electricity Production Costs
- U.S. Electricity Production Costs and Components (Table)
Costs Related to Waste Management
Funds Committed for the Nuclear Waste Fund$29.9 billion (1/10th of a cent per kWh of electricity generated at nuclear power plants plus interest since 1983). Of the $29.9 billion, $9.5 billion has been spent. Payments to the Nuclear Waste Fund are included in the fuel costs.
Estimated Cost of Decommissioning
Per plant $300-500 million—includes estimated radiological, used fuel and site restoration costs—about $300 million, $100-150 million and $50 million, respectively.
Industry $31.9 billion—about $300 million per reactor. Decommissioning costs are not included in production costs.
Of the total $31.9 billion estimated to decommission all eligible nuclear plants at an average cost of $300 million, $22.5 billion or about two-thirds have already been funded. The remaining $9.4 billion will be funded over the next 20 years (the average nuclear plant is licensed for 40 years).