Used fuel storage at nuclear plant sites in the U.S. 2021, by state

At over 11,000 metric tons of uranium, Illinois was ranked first in 2021 among all states in the United States for the largest volume of spent nuclear fuel stored in nuclear plant sites. Pennsylvania ranked second that year, at over 8,000 metric tons of used commercial nuclear fuel being stored.Used or spent nuclear fuel refers to uranium fuel rods that are too depleted to sustain a nuclear reaction. The used nuclear fuel can be recycled.

在超过11,000吨的铀元素存储量中，伊利诺伊州在2021年位列美国各州之首，为核电站存储的核废料总量之最。宾夕法尼亚州当年位居第二，存储的商用核燃料超过8,000吨。所谓已使用或核废料，指的是那些铀燃料棒因铀元素消耗过度，无法维持核反应的进行。这些已使用的核燃料可以进行回收。