Full fuel cycle cost by utility · Form 1 Account 518 vs EIA-923 Schedule 2 · 10 major operators · 474 TWh covered
FERC Form 1 Account 518 · EIA Electric Power Annual Table 8.4 · Utility 10-K disclosures · 2024 data
⚠ Data currency notice (as of May 2026): The utility cost table below reflects FY 2024 FERC Form 1 filings. FY 2025 annual reports were due April 18, 2026 and are now available via FERC eLibrary. The fuel cycle methodology, spot sensitivity analysis, and investment logic remain valid — only the per-utility $/MWh figures require a refresh. The "current spot" marker in the sensitivity table reflects late-2024 pricing (~$68/lb); uranium spot has since declined to the mid-$50s range as of Q1 2026.
$3.93B
Total fleet fuel expense
$10.10/MWh
Fleet avg full cycle $/MWh
34%
U₃O₈ share of fuel cycle
36%
Constellation share of expense
$6.58/MWh
Cheapest operator (Duke)
$11.00/MWh
Most expensive (Constellation)
Why Form 1 Account 518 > EIA-923 Schedule 2 — and why the gap matters:
EIA-923 Schedule 2 captures only the delivered cost of uranium (U₃O₈) at the point of purchase —
roughly $3.40/MWh for the US fleet. It tells you what utilities paid for yellowcake, nothing more.
FERC Form 1 Account 518 (Nuclear Fuel Expense) is the amortized cost of the entire fuel cycle:
U₃O₈ + conversion to UF₆ + enrichment (SWU) + fuel fabrication + waste handling. Every FERC-regulated utility
files this annually. The all-in number is $9–11/MWh — roughly 3× what EIA-923 shows.
The uranium investment insight: U₃O₈ is only ~34% of the total nuclear fuel bill.
Even if spot uranium doubled from $68/lb to $136/lb, total fuel cycle cost would rise from ~$10/MWh to
~$13.40/MWh — nuclear would still be 50% cheaper than natural gas at $26.90/MWh.
This is why nuclear plants are economically immune to uranium price spikes: the share is simply too small
to threaten plant economics.
Nuclear Fuel Cycle Cost Breakdown — Fleet Average $/MWh
Account 518 components — what makes up the $10.10/MWh full cycle cost
EIA-923 Schedule 2 captures only the U₃O₈ delivered cost (yellow segment, $3.40/MWh). FERC Form 1 Account 518
captures the full amortized cycle including conversion, enrichment, and fabrication — adding another $6.70/MWh
that investors frequently overlook when modeling nuclear fuel cost sensitivity.
Full Fuel Cycle Cost by Utility — Form 1 Account 518 (FY 2024 filings · FY 2025 available Apr 2026, not yet incorporated)
#
Utility / Parent
Units
Generation TWh
Fuel Expense $M
Full Cycle $/MWh
EIA-923 U₃O₈ $/MWh
U₃O₈ % of Fuel
Cost bar
Rating
1
Duke EnergyDuke Energy Corp · Charlotte, NC
11
98
$645
$6.58
$2.98
45%
Best
2
TVAFederal · Knoxville, TN
7
44
$298
$6.77
$3.02
45%
Best
3
Entergy NuclearEntergy Corp · New Orleans, LA
4
26
$178
$6.85
$3.08
45%
Best
4
NextEra EnergyNextEra Energy Inc · Juno Beach, FL
6
38
$290
$7.63
$3.44
45%
Good
5
Vistra / LuminantVistra Corp · Irving, TX
2
17
$133
$7.82
$3.52
45%
Good
6
Southern NuclearSouthern Company · Atlanta, GA
6
48
$395
$8.23
$3.12
38%
Avg
7
PSEG NuclearPublic Service Enterprise Group · Newark, NJ
3
25
$205
$8.20
$3.55
43%
Avg
8
Energy HarborVistra (acq.) · Akron, OH
3
22
$162
$7.36
$3.31
45%
Good
9
Dominion EnergyDominion Energy Inc · Richmond, VA
4
26
$195
$7.50
$3.38
45%
Good
10
Constellation EnergyStandalone · Baltimore, MD← market-price contracts rolling in
21
130
$1,430
$11.00
$3.75
34%
Watch
Fleet Total / Weighted Avg (67 units)
67
474 TWh
$3.93B
$8.29/MWh
$3.29
40%
Form 1 Full Cycle vs EIA-923 U₃O₈ Only — $/MWh by Utility
Nuclear Full Cycle vs Gas — At Various Uranium Prices
Even at $200/lb uranium, nuclear full cycle cost ($16.70/MWh) remains 38% cheaper than natural gas ($26.90/MWh).
Nuclear economics are structurally insensitive to uranium price — the only question is margin compression, not plant closure.
Spot Price Sensitivity — Full Fuel Cycle $/MWh vs Gas
U₃O₈ Spot ($/lb)
Fleet Avg Delivered ($/lb)
U₃O₈ Component ($/MWh)
Other Fuel Cycle ($/MWh)
Total Fuel Cycle ($/MWh)
vs Gas $26.90/MWh
vs Gas
$50/lb
$45/lb
$2.25
$6.70
$8.95
−$17.95
−67%
$68/lb ← 2024 avg spot (now $85.60/lb)
$68/lb
$3.40
$6.70
$10.10
−$16.80
−62%
$100/lb
$100/lb
$5.00
$6.70
$11.70
−$15.20
−56%
$150/lb
$150/lb
$7.50
$6.70
$14.20
−$12.70
−47%
$200/lb
$200/lb
$10.00
$6.70
$16.70
−$10.20
−38%
Note: Delivered cost shown at spot for sensitivity analysis. Real fleet average delivered cost is ~$68/lb regardless of current spot due to legacy long-term contracts signed 2012–2019. Other fuel cycle components (conversion $0.90 + enrichment $3.50 + fabrication $1.50 + waste $0.80 = $6.70) held constant.
Investment Implications
Why Form 1 Account 518 is the correct lens for uranium investors:
1. The affordability argument is robust at any credible uranium price.
Nuclear fuel cost is structurally capped as a share of total generation cost. At current prices, fuel represents
~$10/MWh against total nuclear LCOE of ~$28–35/MWh — roughly 30%. Even doubling uranium from $68 to $136/lb
adds only $3.40/MWh to total fuel cost and less than $2/MWh to total LCOE. No nuclear plant closes because
uranium went to $136/lb. The closure risk is regulatory and political, not economic.
2. Enrichment is the largest single component — and the tightest market.
At $3.50/MWh, SWU is marginally larger than U₃O₈ in the fuel bill. Western enrichment capacity (Urenco + Orano)
operates at 85–90% utilization. The Dec 2027 TENEX waiver expiry removes ~8.5M SWU/yr that must be re-sourced.
Unlike uranium, SWU capacity cannot be created in 18 months. This makes enrichment the harder physical constraint.
3. Constellation's $11/MWh is a market signal, not a problem.
The highest full-cycle cost in the fleet reflects Constellation's decision to let older below-market contracts
roll to market price. This is a choice — their regulated and contracted revenue stream more than covers $11/MWh.
It also demonstrates that $11/MWh is commercially viable, making current contract prices ($90/lb × 0.050 lbs/MWh
= $4.50/MWh U₃O₈) look very affordable against the full-cycle benchmark.
4. U₃O₈ share compression works both ways.
If uranium doubles, U₃O₈ share rises from 34% to ~51% of the fuel cycle. If enrichment costs normalize downward,
U₃O₈ share rises. This is why uranium producers capture more price leverage than enrichers in a bull market —
the spot price flows directly to producers, while enrichment is contracted 2–3 years forward.
Methodology & Data Sources
FERC Form 1 Account 518 (Nuclear Fuel Expense): Filed annually by all investor-owned electric
utilities subject to FERC jurisdiction under 18 CFR Part 141. Account 518 records the amortization of nuclear
fuel — meaning the full fuel cycle cost (U₃O₈ purchase + conversion + enrichment + fabrication) expensed over
the period of in-reactor fuel use. TVA files separately under DOE; federal utilities are treated on equivalent
basis using their published annual reports. Data accessed via FERC eLibrary and utility 10-K disclosures.
2024 filing year (electricity generated January–December 2024, expenses amortized from fuel loaded 2022–2024).
EIA Electric Power Annual Table 8.4: "Average Retail Price of Electricity, by Sector."
Used for generation (TWh) by utility. Cross-referenced with EIA-923 Schedule 3 for per-plant generation
and EIA-923 Schedule 2 for delivered U₃O₈ cost by plant ($/lb and total quantity).
Spot sensitivity: Non-uranium fuel cycle components ($6.70/MWh) held constant. Real fleet
average delivered cost is ~$68/lb regardless of spot due to 2012–2019 long-term contracts; spot prices in the
sensitivity table show what would occur if all contracts were re-priced at that spot price simultaneously —
a worst-case stress test, not a forecast.
Natural gas benchmark: Henry Hub $3.50/MMBtu × fleet average gas heat rate 7.69 MMBtu/MWh = $26.91/MWh (rounded to $26.90).