Fuel cost for nuclear electricity

The fuel cost of the nuclear electricity is expressed in CHF/MWh_e. It is the money that needs to be spend on the nuclear fuel chain for producing 1 MWh of electricity in a nuclear power plant. The nuclear fuel chain includes:

• Mining → Commercial ore contains about 0.3% U₃O₈.
• Milling/refining → Yellow cake (U₃O₈) is produced from the ore.
• Conversion → Uranium hexafluoride (UF₆) is produced by fluorination of yellow cake.
• Enrichment
• Fuel fabrication → UO₂ in fuel rods
• Reprocessing or permanent storage

The nuclear fuel cost can approximately represents the 12% of the annual cost of a nuclear power plant ^[1].

[1] U.S. Energy Information Administration website, Levelized Cost and Levelized Avoided Cost of New Generation Resources in the Annual Energy Outlook 2014