Annual production capacity in tons.

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- Definition

Loss on assets.

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- Definition

Period Used For Lag Basis

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No definition available.

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- Definition

The amount of goodwill arising from a business combination that is expected to be deductible for tax purposes.

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-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 805

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- Definition

The cash inflow associated with the acquisition of business during the period (for example, cash that was held by the acquired business).

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-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

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- Definition

The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

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-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

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This item represents the carrying amount on the entity's balance sheet of its investment in common stock of an equity method investee. This is not an indicator of the fair value of the investment, rather it is the initial cost adjusted for the entity's share of earnings and losses of the investee, adjusted for any distributions (dividends) and other than temporary impairment (OTTI) losses recognized.

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- Definition

Amount after accumulated impairment loss of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

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- Definition

The cash outflow associated with the acquisition of business during the period. The cash portion only of the acquisition price.

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- Definition

The cash outflow associated with the acquisition of a business, net of the cash acquired from the purchase.

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- Definition

The cash inflow from borrowing by issuing commercial paper.

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-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Glossary Financing Activities

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Acquisitions and Dispositions - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended		1 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Oct. 08, 2014 T	Jun. 20, 2012	Dec. 31, 2014	Nov. 30, 2012
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill attributed to the expected synergies		$ 2,068,664,000us-gaap_Goodwill	$ 1,973,608,000us-gaap_Goodwill	$ 2,004,538,000us-gaap_Goodwill			$ 2,068,664,000us-gaap_Goodwill
Loss on assets	17,600,000nue_LossOnAssets	25,393,000nue_LossOnAssets	14,000,000nue_LossOnAssets	17,563,000nue_LossOnAssets
Equity method investment, carrying amount		872,500,000us-gaap_EquityMethodInvestments	936,000,000us-gaap_EquityMethodInvestments				872,500,000us-gaap_EquityMethodInvestments
Business acquisition purchase price		768,581,000		760,833,000
Gallatin Steel Company [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business acquisition purchase price					779,100,000
Annual production capacity					1,800,000
Goodwill attributed to the expected synergies					98,505,000
Skyline Steel LLC [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business acquisition purchase price						675,400,000
Goodwill attributed to the expected synergies						138,579,000
Cash received as a result of acquisition						0
Hunter Ridge Energy Services LLC [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Equity method investment, ownership percentage		50.00%					50.00%	50.00%
Equity method investment, carrying amount		138,600,000	134,500,000				138,600,000
Period used for lag basis, in months							1 month	1 month
Other Minor Acquisitions [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business acquisition purchase price		38,500,000	0	85,400,000
Steel Mills [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill attributed to the expected synergies		594,402,000	495,897,000	407,045,000			594,402,000
Steel Mills [Member] \| Gallatin Steel Company [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill attributed to the expected synergies					98,500,000
Goodwill expected to be deductible for tax purposes					87,600,000
Steel Mills [Member] \| Skyline Steel LLC [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill attributed to the expected synergies						138,600,000
Goodwill expected to be deductible for tax purposes						128,200,000
Commercial Paper [Member] \| Gallatin Steel Company [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Approximate amount of commercial paper issued					$ 300,000,000