Nuclear Power Generation: The process of generating electricity has involved the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) since before the turn of the twentieth century.  For over five decades, a non-fossil fuel, uranium, has been used to produce electricity. First United States Commercial Nuclear Power Plant: The first U.S. nuclear power plant went into commercial operation in 1957 at Shippingport, Pennsylvania and the use of nuclear-generated electricity has grown substantially. 2007 U.S. Nuclear Power Industry Output: U.S. nuclear power industry generation in 2007 was 806.5 billion kilowatt hours, an increase of 2.4 percent over the previous year. Capacity experienced only a marginal increase in 2007. In 2007, there were 104 U.S. commercial nuclear generating units that are fully licensed to operate. The estimated annual net capacity factor was 91.5 percent in 2007 compared to 89.6 percent in 2006 and 66 percent in 1990 (the lowest net capacity factor percentage in 17 years). U.S. Nuclear Reactor Expansion in 2007: The last new reactor to come on line in the United States was the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Watts Bar 1 reactor in Tennessee, February 1996. Nuclear expansion has been through the uprating (increasing in capacity) of existing power plants. In addition, the Browns Ferry 1 reactor (included in the total of 104) was rebuilt, uprated, and returned to service in June 2007, after being shut down for decades.

Nuclear Share of Electricity Net Generation, 1973-2007 Source: EIA, Monthly Energy Review

Source: “Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Reivew and Annual Energy Review.”

Nuclear Generation Process: How electricity from nuclear fuel is generated. 

• Uranium ore must be chemically processed, enriched, and formed into pellets before it can be used as a fuel.
• Uranium fuel pellets are loaded into hollow tubes called fuel rods.
• Hundreds of fuel rods form fuel assemblies that, along with control rods, are placed into a nuclear reactor core and then submerged in water.
• Energy in a nuclear reactor is derived from a process called nuclear fission, in which a neutron strikes the nucleus of a uranium atom and is absorbed.
• The absorption of the neutron makes the nucleus unstable, causing it to split into two atoms of lighter elements and release heat and new neutrons.
• The heat is used to turn water into steam which then rotates blades in a turbine connected to an electrical generator to produce electricity.
• Because more free neutrons are released from a uranium fission event than are required to initiate the event, the reaction can become self sustaining--a chain reaction--under controlled conditions, thus producing a tremendous amount of energy.

Uranium Resources: The fuel most widely used by nuclear plants for nuclear fission is uranium. In nuclear fission, atoms are split apart to form smaller atoms, releasing energy. Nuclear power plants use nuclear fission to produce electricity.

Uranium is nonrenewable, though it is a common metal found in rocks all over the world. Nuclear plants use a certain kind of uranium, U-235, as fuel because its atoms are easily split apart. Though uranium is quite common, about 100 times more common than silver, U-235 is relatively rare.

Uranium mining: There were 11 uranium producing mines in the United States in 2007, six underground and five in-situ-leach mining. They produced 4.5 million pounds of uranium oxide (U₃O₈) in 2007, 3 percent less than in 2006.

Uranium Production: Total production of U.S. uranium concentrate (yellowcake) in 2007 was 4.5 million pounds U₃O₈, 10 percent above the 2006 level, from one U.S. mill and 5 in-situ-leach plants. Shipments of uranium concentrate from these facilities were 4.0 million pounds in 2007, 6 percent above the 2006 level.

International Nuclear Power: In 2007, the United States had more nuclear capacity than any other nation, 100.1 million kilowatts of nuclear capacity, followed in rank order by France, Japan, and Germany. International growth in commercial nuclear power has slowed, but several countries have ambitious nuclear construction programs. While no nuclear reactors have been ordered in the United States since 1978, China, India, Russia, and South Korea and other countries have brought new reactors into service during the latter part of the twentieth century.

Nuclear Power and the Environment: Concerns about issues such as high-level waste disposal, decommissioning expenses when reactors are retired, and the use of nuclear reactors to relieve possible global warming associated with fossil fuel-based generation will influence the future level of growth of nuclear power worldwide.

Nuclear Waste: Like all industrial processes, nuclear power generation has by-product wastes: spent (used) fuels, other radioactive waste, and heat. Spent fuels and other radioactive wastes are the principal environmental concern for nuclear power. Most nuclear waste is low-level radioactive waste. It consists of ordinary tools, protective clothing, wiping cloths and disposable items that have been contaminated with small amounts of radioactive dust or particles. These materials are subject to special regulations that govern their disposal so they will not come in contact with the outside environment.

Spent Fuel Containment: Spent fuel assemblies are highly radioactive and must initially be stored in specially designed pools resembling large swimming pools (water cools the fuel and acts as a radiation shield) or in specially designed dry storage containers. An increasing number of reactor operators now store their older and less spent fuel in dry storage facilities using special outdoor concrete or steel containers with air cooling. The United States Department of Energy's long range plan is for this spent fuel to be stored deep in the earth in a geologic repository, at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

More information on this subject can be found in the following EIA publications:
       U.S. Nuclear Generation
       Monthly Energy Review
       Annual Energy Review
       Annual Energy Outlook
       International Energy Outlook
       International Energy Annual