Salem 2 completes Spring refuel in 32 days, caps 496-day B2B run

[Outage Wire]

32 days outage · 6 days past schedule · fifth B2B run complete · 1,142 MW back online

Salem 2 completed its Spring 2026 refueling outage on May 6, 2026, returning to service after 32 days. The outage began on Apr 5, 2026.

The published schedule had it at 26 days (Apr 4, 2026 to Apr 30, 2026), so the actual ran 6 days longer than planned. NukeWorker's predictive model anticipated about 30 days based on the unit's recent cycles, with the actual 2 days longer than that projection.

The outage ran about 9 days shorter than the unit's 18-cycle average of 40.7 days. It also capped a 496-day breaker-to-breaker run (over the 455-day threshold for an 18-month cycle), the unit's fifth qualified B2B run. Going into the refueling, the unit had run for more than 2 years without an unscheduled outage. NukeWorker's predictive model scores 85% on duration accuracy for this unit.

The 32-day outage removed roughly 807,000 MWh from the grid, worth approximately $32 million at recent wholesale prices, equivalent to a year's electricity for about 75,000 homes.

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, Salem 1 is running at full power. Seabrook 1, Braidwood 2, Palo Verde 2, and Susquehanna 1 also completed refueling outages within the past week.

Salem 2 is a 1,142-MW Westinghouse 4-loop PWR operated by PSEG Nuclear (commercial operation since 1981). At full power, it supplies enough electricity for roughly 914,000 homes. The utility operates 2 other U.S. nuclear units. Its operating license runs through 2040 (renewed in 2011). The unit ran at a 100.0% capacity factor in 2025, among the unit's strongest cycles.

View Salem 2's ratings, history, predictions, and current status on NukeWorker.

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