Catawba 1 begins Spring 2026 refueling outage

[News Wire]

Catawba 1 began its scheduled refueling outage on April 18, 2026, meeting the predicted start date exactly. The unit enters this maintenance period following an unscheduled-outage-free streak of 442 days. With a historical average of 33.8 days for prior refuels, the current outage is scheduled for a duration of 21 days.

YORK, SC — Refueling activities began at Catawba 1 on Apr 18, 2026. The unit started on the published date (Apr 18, 2026) with a planned 21-day outage running through May 9, 2026.

Going into the refueling, the unit had run for about 15 months without an unscheduled outage. NukeWorker's predictive model scores 98% 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, Catawba 2 is running at full power. Watts Bar 1, Saint Lucie 2, Vogtle 3, and Braidwood 2 also began refueling outages within the past week.

Catawba 1 is a 1,160-MW Westinghouse 4-loop PWR operated by Duke Energy Carolinas (commercial operation since 1985). At full power, it supplies enough electricity for roughly 928,000 homes. The utility operates 6 other U.S. nuclear units. Its operating license runs through 2043 (renewed in 2003). The unit ran at a 99.2% capacity factor in 2025, among the unit's strongest cycles.

Heading to York, SC for outage work? Current per-diem averages $110/night lodging plus $68/day meals (total $178/day), and Unemployment Benefits are $326 weekly. See open nuclear jobs in South Carolina on NukeWorker.

View Catawba 1'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.