Vogtle 3 begins Spring 2026 refueling outage

[News Wire]

Vogtle 3 began its scheduled refueling outage on April 19, 2026, meeting the predicted start date exactly. The unit entered this maintenance period following an unscheduled-outage-free streak of 324 days. The planned duration for this refueling outage is 36 days.

WAYNESBORO, GA — Vogtle 3 came offline on Apr 19, 2026 for refueling. The unit started on the published date (Apr 19, 2026) with a planned 36-day outage running through May 25, 2026.

NukeWorker's predictive model scores 99% 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, Vogtle 1, Vogtle 2, and Vogtle 4 are all running at full power. Catawba 1, Watts Bar 1, Saint Lucie 2, and Braidwood 2 also began refueling outages within the past week.

Vogtle 3 is a 1,117-MW Westinghouse 2-loop AP1000 operated by Georgia Power (commercial operation since 2023). At full power, it supplies enough electricity for roughly 894,000 homes. The utility operates 5 other U.S. nuclear units. Its operating license runs through 2062. The unit ran at a 97.4% capacity factor in 2025, among the unit's strongest cycles.

Heading to Waynesboro, GA for outage 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 Vogtle 3'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.