The average total generating cost for US nuclear energy reached $36.46 per megawatt-hour in 2025, a 5.1 percent increase over 2024 when both years are expressed in 2025 dollars, according to cost data published by the Nuclear Energy Institute in August 2026.

Capital spending drove the increase. Capital costs rose 23.9 percent to $9.69 per megawatt-hour, and industrywide capital expenditures climbed to $7.59 billion from $6.10 billion a year earlier. Fuel costs rose 2.5 percent to $5.95 per megawatt-hour and account for roughly 16.3 percent of the total generating cost. Operating costs declined 1.2 percent to $20.82 per megawatt-hour.

The longer trend runs downward. Between 2012 and 2025, total generating costs fell 34.6 percent, with fuel down 40.2 percent, capital down 36.4 percent and operating costs down 31.8 percent.

Scale separates the fleet. Across 55 US plant sites, multiple-unit plants averaged $34.36 per megawatt-hour compared with $45.77 at single-unit plants. Merchant market plants averaged $31.47 per megawatt-hour while cost-of-service regulated plants averaged $40.31.

Labor accounts for the largest share of operations spending. Industry labor costs totaled nearly $8.8 billion in 2025, more than half of all operating costs, a share that has held roughly steady since 2014. The industry supports 73,000 long-term jobs, adds $64 billion to US gross domestic product and pays $9 billion in state and local taxes.

The report also records 25 reactors holding a second license renewal as of August 2026, and notes that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects 30 power uprates by 2030, adding 2,291 megawatts of capacity at existing plants.

Source: Nuclear Energy Institute - https://www.nei.org/resources/reports-briefs/nuclear-costs-in-context