Braidwood 2 begins Spring 2026 refueling outage

[News Wire]

Braidwood 2 began its scheduled refueling outage on April 20, 2026, meeting the predicted start date exactly. The unit enters this maintenance period following a 4,673-day streak without an unscheduled outage. With a 96% accuracy rate for duration predictions on this unit, the refueling is expected to last 19 days.

BRACEVILLE, IL — Braidwood 2 entered a refueling outage on Apr 20, 2026. The unit started on the published date (Apr 20, 2026) with a planned 19-day outage running through May 9, 2026.

Going into the refueling, the unit had run for more than 12 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, Braidwood 1 is running at full power. Vogtle 3, Catawba 1, Watts Bar 1, and Saint Lucie 2 also began refueling outages within the past week.

Braidwood 2 is a 1,154-MW Westinghouse 4-loop PWR operated by Constellation Nuclear (commercial operation since 1988). At full power, it supplies enough electricity for roughly 923,000 homes. The utility operates 20 other U.S. nuclear units. Its operating license runs through 2047 (renewed in 2016). The unit ran at a 99.9% capacity factor in 2025, among the unit's strongest cycles.

Heading to Braceville, IL for outage work? Current per-diem averages $110/night lodging plus $68/day meals (total $178/day), and Unemployment Benefits are $859 weekly. See open nuclear jobs in Illinois on NukeWorker.

View Braidwood 2'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.