Statistics, statistics, statistics

The United States has 103 nuclear generating units at 65 plant sites.  For information on the plants, go to Nuclear Statistics on this site and click on U.S. Nuclear Plants State-by-State Interactive Map. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission also has information on U.S. nuclear plants on its Web site at Find Operating Nuclear Power Reactors by Location or Name, which provides information on each nuclear generating unit. For a list of currently operating units, go to Nuclear Statistics on this site and click on U.S. Nuclear Power Plants.

In 2005, U.S. nuclear output reached 782 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. See the Statistical Grab Bag below for an indication of how much electricity this is. For annual production figures, go to Nuclear Statistics and click on Charts and Graphs.

The average capacity factor for U.S. nuclear plants in 2005 was 89.3 percent. Capacity factor measures actual plant output compared with potential plant output. For annual average capacity factors, go to Nuclear Statistics and click on Charts and Graphs.

The average cost of nuclear-generated electricity in 2005 was 1.72 cents per kilowatt-hour, making nuclear energy cheaper than coal, oil and natural gas. For annual average cost figures, go to Nuclear Statistics and click on Costs: Operating/Building/Waste Disposal.

Statistical Grab Bag

• One uranium fuel pellet produces about 2 megawatt-hours of electricity. It would take about 1,780 pounds of coal, 149 gallons of oil, and 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas to generate the same amount of electricity.
• U.S. nuclear plants produced 782 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2005. That’s enough power to meet the needs of about 74 million U.S. households. Or, looking abroad, it’s enough electricity to supply both France and the United Kingdom for a year. And it could meet double the annual power use in Africa or the Middle East—with electricity to spare.
• U.S. nuclear plants generated 19.3 percent of the country’s electricity in 2005, and the world’s 435 nuclear plants accounted for about 16 percent of the electricity generated globally in 2004.

If you can’t find the fact or figure you need, contact NEI at webmaster@nei.org.

Nuclear Energy Institute—Washington, DC
August 2000