Hatch 2 trips offline, unscheduled outage underway

[Outage Wire]

BAXLEY, GA — Hatch 2 entered an unscheduled outage on May 11, 2026. The NRC has not yet issued an event notification for this trip; this post will be updated if one is filed.

This is the first unscheduled outage of 2026 for the unit, which had 1 unscheduled outage in all of 2025. Prior to this trip, the unit had run for about 14 months without an unscheduled outage.

Based on the unit's history and similar reactor types, projected total duration is about 5 days. NukeWorker's predictive model scores 96% on forced-outage duration accuracy for this unit, with past calls usually landing within a day.

Across the U.S. fleet of 94 commercial reactors, today's combined capacity factor is 85.6% (9 currently in refueling, 2 in unscheduled outages), below the 87.0% baseline for this month over the past five years. At the same site, Hatch 1 is running at full power. Quad Cities 2 also had an unscheduled outage within the past week.

Hatch 2 is an 883-MW General Electric BWR/4 operated by Georgia Power (commercial operation since 1979). At full power, it supplies enough electricity for roughly 706,000 homes. The utility operates 5 other U.S. nuclear units. Its operating license runs through 2038 (renewed in 2002).

Heading to Baxley, GA for support work? Current per-diem averages $110/night lodging plus $68/day meals (total $178/day), and Unemployment Benefits are $365 weekly. See open nuclear jobs in Georgia on NukeWorker.

View Hatch 2's ratings, history, predictions, and current status on NukeWorker. This thread will be updated when the unit returns to service.

Want the full picture? Subscribe to the NukeWorker outage schedule for every current and upcoming U.S. nuclear outage: refueling, forced, and the 18-month rolling forecast.

Sources: NRC Daily Reactor Power Status reports, utility-published outage schedules, and NukeWorker's predictive model.