US nuclear power plant operating cost and experience summaries

NUREG/CR-6577, U.S. Nuclear Power Plant Operating Cost and Experience Summaries, has been prepared to provide historical operating cost and experience information on U.S. commercial nuclear power plants. Cost incurred after initial construction are characterized as annual production costs, representing fuel and plant operating and maintenance expenses, and capital expenditures related to facility additions/modifications which are included in the plant capital asset base. As discussed in the report, annual data for these two cost categories were obtained from publicly available reports and must be accepted as having different degrees of accuracy and completeness. Treatment of inconclusive and incomplete data is discussed. As an aid to understanding the fluctuations in the cost histories, operating summaries for each nuclear unit are provided. The intent of these summaries is to identify important operating events; refueling, major maintenance, and other significant outages; operating milestones; and significant licensing or enforcement actions. Information used in the summaries is condensed from annual operating reports submitted by the licensees, plant histories contained in Nuclear Power Experience, trade press articles, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) web site (www.nrc.gov)