Browns Ferry 3 trips offline, unscheduled outage underway

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Browns Ferry 3 ended a 262-day unscheduled-outage-free streak on April 28, 2026. This forced short outage marks the first unscheduled event for the unit in 2026, matching the total count for the entirety of 2025. The 1,260-MW General Electric BWR is currently one of two units in the United States undergoing an outage.

ATHENS, AL — Browns Ferry 3 entered an unscheduled outage on Apr 28, 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.

Across the U.S. fleet of 94 commercial reactors, today's combined capacity factor is 91.3% (5 currently in refueling), above the 87.0% baseline for this month over the past five years. At the same site, Browns Ferry 1 and Browns Ferry 2 are both running at full power. Hatch 1 also had an unscheduled outage within the past week.

Browns Ferry 3 is a 1,260-MW General Electric BWR operated by Tennessee Valley Authority (commercial operation since 1977). At full power, it supplies enough electricity for roughly 1 million homes. The utility operates 6 other U.S. nuclear units. Its operating license runs through 2056 (renewed in 2025).

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View Browns Ferry 3'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.

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Browns Ferry 3 returned to service on April 29, 2026, following a two-day forced outage that began on April 28. This event marks the first forced outage for the unit in 2026, matching the total count recorded for the entirety of 2025. The 1,260-MW General Electric BWR is now back online after the brief unscheduled period.

Browns Ferry 3 returned to service on Apr 29, 2026 after a 2-day unscheduled outage that began on Apr 28, 2026. A short forced outage like this typically reflects a controlled response to a single issue rather than a major component problem.

The 2-day outage removed roughly 56,000 MWh from the grid, worth approximately $2 million at recent wholesale prices, equivalent to a year's electricity for about 5,200 homes.

View Browns Ferry 3's ratings, history, predictions, and current status on NukeWorker.

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.