Three PA nuclear plants dealing with COVID-19 and March refueling outages at Beaver Valley, Limerick and Susquehanna

Planned Nuclear Refueling Outages in 2020

In 2020, 56 of the nation’s 58 nuclear reactors in 21 states—including several that have issued lockdown measures—planned to undergo refueling outages. At least 31 of the 58 plants had scheduled outages between mid-February and early May. The remaining 25 planned refueling outages between late August and late October. 

The average U.S. refueling outage times have shortened in recent years—decreasing from an average of 46 days in 2012 to 32 days in 2019—owing in part to improved and planning and execution practices for refueling outages over the years, NEI told POWER. Of significant note is that the 2020 season is poised to be especially busy in part because planned nuclear generation outages are generally timed to coincide with a plant’s refueling cycle, it said. 

Table. Expected U.S. Nuclear Plant Refueling Outages in 2020. Courtesy: NEI

	Plant	City	State	Company	Approx. Start
1	Browns Ferry	Athens	AL	Tennessee Valley Authority	Mid February
2	Grand Gulf	Port Gibson	MS	Entergy	Mid February
3	Brunswick	Southport	NC	Duke Energy Progress	late February
4	Davis Besse	Oak Harbor	OH	First Energy	Late February
5	Byron	Byron	IL	Exelon	Early March
6	Nine Mile	Oswego	NY	Exelon	Early March
7	Vogtle	Augusta	GA	Southern Nuclear Operating Co.	Early March
8	South Texas Project	Wadsworth	TX	STP Nuclear Operating Co.	Early March
9	Arkansas Nuclear One	Russellville	AR	Entergy	Early March
10	Point Beach	Two Rivers	WI	NextEra (FPL)	Early March
11	Salem	Hancocks Bridge	NJ	PSEG	Early March
12	Fermi	Frenchtown Charter Twp.	MI	DTE Energy	Mid March
13	McGuire	Huntersville	NC	Duke Energy	Mid March
14	Susquehanna	Berwick	PA	Talen Energy	Mid March
15	Sequoyah	Soddy Daisy	TN	Tennessee Valley Authority	Late March
16	Beaver Valley	Shippingport	PA	FirstEnergy	Late March
17	Limerick	Pottstown	PA	Exelon	Late March
18	Quad Cities	Cordova	IL	Exelon	Late March
19	Turkey Point	Florida City	FL	Florida Power & Light	Late March
20	Seabrook	Seabrook	NH	NextEra Energy	Early April
21	Salem	Hancocks Bridge	NJ	PSEG	Early April
22	Palo Verde	Tonopah	AZ	Arizona Public Service Company	Early April
23	Comanche Peak	Glen Rose	TX	Luminant	Early April
24	Ginna	Ontario	NY	Exelon	Early April
25	Oconee	Seneca	SC	Duke Energy	Early April
26	VC Summer	Jenkinsville	SC	Dominion Energy	Early April
27	Millstone	Waterford	CT	Dominion Energy	Early April
28	Braidwood	Braceville	IL	Exelon	Mid April
29	Watts Bar	Spring City	TN	Tennessee Valley Authority	Mid April
30	Catawba	York	SC	Duke Energy	Early May
31	Surry	Surry	VA	Dominion Energy	Early May
32	Indian Point	Buchanan	NY	Entergy	Early May
33	Palisades	Covert	MI	Entergy	Late August
34	North Anna	Mineral	VA	Dominion Energy	Early September
35	Robinson	Hartsville	SC	Duke Energy Progress	Early September
36	Vogtle	Augusta	GA	Southern Nuclear Operating Co.	Early September
37	Fitzpatrick	Oswego	NY	Exelon	Early September
38	Prairie Island	Welch	MN	Northern States Power	Early September
39	DC Cook	Bridgman	MI	AEP	Mid September
40	McGuire	Huntersville	NC	Duke Energy	Mid September
41	Cooper	Brownville	NE	Nebraska Public Power District	Mid September
42	Waterford	Killona	LA	Entergy	Mid September
43	Point Beach	Two Rivers	WI	NextEra (FPL)	Early October
44	Salem	Hancocks Bridge	NJ	PSEG	Early October
45	Palo Verde	Tonopah	AZ	Arizona Public Service Company	Early October
46	Browns Ferry	Athens	AL	Tennessee Valley Authority	Early October
47	Diablo Canyon	Avila Beach	CA	Pacific Gas & Electric	Early October
48	Callaway	Fulton	MO	Ameren	Early October
49	Byron	Byron	IL	Exelon	Early October
50	Turkey Point	Florida City	FL	Florida Power & Light	Early October
51	Farley	Dothan	AL	Southern Nuclear Operating Co.	Early October
52	Comanche Peak	Glen Rose	TX	Luminant	Early October
53	Peach Bottom	Delta	PA	Exelon	Mid October
54	Millstone	Waterford	CT	Dominion Energy	Mid October
55	Watts Bar	Spring City	TN	Tennessee Valley Authority	Mid October
56	Duane Arnold	Palo	IA	NextEra Energy	Late October

As of March 25, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), 13 of the U.S.’s 96 commercial nuclear reactors were offline for refueling outages: Indian Point 3, Nine Mile Point 1, Susquehanna 2, Browns Ferry 2, Brunswick 2, McGuire 1, North Anna 2, Turkey Point 4, Vogtle 2, D.C. Cook 1, Perry 1, Point Beach 1, and Quad Cities 1. At least five others were coasting down in preparation for refueling outages: Limerick 2, Salem 1, Byron 2, 

Monticello, and Comanche Peak 1. 

The Energy Information Administration (EIA), which compiles data from the NRC into a useful interactive map that shows the status of U.S. nuclear outages, noted that 16.9% of total U.S. nuclear capacity—about 17 GW of the total 100 GW—was offline as of March 25.