Nuclear plants' power generating costs in the U.S. 2002-2023

Nuclear electricity generated in the United States cost 31.76 U.S. dollars per megawatt-hour in 2023. Production costs were highest in 2012, when they came to 52.83 U.S. dollars in 2023 prices, but have decreased ever since. Some 782 terawatt-hours of electricity is generated by U.S. nuclear plants every year.

Capacity factor of nuclear power in the United States

Among all the U.S. energy sources, nuclear power has by far the highest capacity factor and is dependable and efficient. In 2024, nuclear power reactors generated more than 92 percent of the electrical energy that could have been produced at continuous full power operation. 

Outage and maintenance of nuclear plants in the United States

Despite having a high capacity factor, nuclear plants experienced peak average daily outages of nearly 22 gigawatts in April and October of the last few years. These outages, planned for low-demand periods, reflect necessary refueling and maintenance. As of July 2023, the average duration of these refueling outages was 34 days, illustrating the balance between high operational efficiency and periodic maintenance required to sustain reliable performance.