Saint Lucie 2 starts Spring 2026 refueling outage 14 days late

[News Wire]

Saint Lucie 2 began its refueling outage on April 18, 2026, which is 14 days later than the published schedule. The unit entered this outage following an 829-day streak without an unscheduled outage. NukeWorker maintains a 97 percent duration-prediction accuracy for this unit, which has a 49.5-day average across 17 prior refuels.

FT. PIERCE, FL — Saint Lucie 2 came offline on Apr 18, 2026 for refueling. The published schedule had a Apr 4, 2026 start; actual is 14 days later than planned. Planned outage length is 30 days (back to service around May 4, 2026).

Going into the refueling, the unit had run for more than 2 years without an unscheduled outage. NukeWorker's predictive model scores 100% on start-date accuracy for this unit.

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, Saint Lucie 1 is running at full power. Catawba 1, Watts Bar 1, Vogtle 3, and Braidwood 2 also began refueling outages within the past week.

Saint Lucie 2 is a 987-MW COMB CE PWR operated by Florida Power & Light (commercial operation since 1983). At full power, it supplies enough electricity for roughly 790,000 homes. The utility operates 3 other U.S. nuclear units. Its operating license runs through 2063 (renewed in 2026). The unit ran at a 100.0% capacity factor in 2025, among the unit's strongest cycles.

Heading to Ft. Pierce, FL for outage work? Current per-diem averages $110/night lodging plus $68/day meals (total $178/day), and Unemployment Benefits are $275 weekly. See open nuclear jobs in Florida on NukeWorker.

View Saint Lucie 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.