Document and Entity Information - Jul. 04, 2015 - shares	Total
Document And Entity Information [Abstract]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Jul. 04, 2015
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2015
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q2
Trading Symbol	NUE
Entity Registrant Name	NUCOR CORP
Entity Central Index Key	0000073309
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding	319,599,749