In 2022, there were 92 commercial nuclear power plants operating in the United States. Those plants generated 775 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity, equivalent to about 18% of utility-scale generation from all energy sources. Illinois has the most reactors (11) and the largest nuclear generating capacity (1,582 megawatts (MW)), equal to 12% of the total United States operating nuclear capacity.1
The nuclear electricity generating industry was launched by the United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to launch and regulate peaceful applications of nuclear energy. Many new plants came online in the 1970s and 1980s, making nuclear power a major component of the nation’s electric power industry.
But as the animation shows, construction of new power plants began to plummet in the early 1980s by the mid-1990s new reactor construction starts were close to zero. Electric utilities canceled more than 120 reactor orders. What caused the dramatic decline?
- New nuclear power plants became increasingly expensive to build, making them hard to compete with cheaper energy sources such as natural gas and coal.
- Construction timelines frequently exceeded a decade which made nuclear power unattractive to investors.
- The electricity demand softened after the energy price shocks of the 1970s.
- The accidents at Three Mile Island (1979), and Chernobyl (1986) tilted the public perception of nuclear power, which already had vocal opponents.
- The industry came under increasing regulation by the federal government–especially after Three Mile Island–that imposed significant additional costs on an already expensive process.
- Deregulation of electricity markets by state governments beginning in the 1990s placed an additional premium on cost reduction, creating more financial pressure on nuclear plants.
The recent focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change has generated renewed interest in nuclear power because it is by far the largest in-place source of low-carbon electricity in the country. The Vogtle Unit 3 at the Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Georgia began commercial operation on July 31, 2023. It represented the first newly constructed nuclear unit in the United States in over 30 years.2
Advocates argue this should be the dawn of a nuclear renaissance given the low emissions from nuclear plants and the promise of lower cost and greater reliability from a new generation of reactor design. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act support the nuclear power industry via new investment and production tax credits and incentives for domestic uranium enrichment. Critics cite the historic problems of cost and safety, a long history of generous government subsidies, and the increasing availability of affordable electricity from solar and wind energy. Nuclear power will continue to be a focal point of debate about the nation’s energy policy.
1 U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Nuclear energy explained,” accessed October 16, 2023, https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/nuclear/us-nuclear-industry.php
2 U.S. Department of Energy, “Plant Vogtle Unit 3 Enters Commercial Operations, Bringing Carbon-Free Nuclear Energy to Millions,” July 31, 2023, Link