McGuire 1 begins Fall 2026 refueling outage

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McGuire 1, Huntersville, North Carolina.

McGuire 1 began its scheduled refueling outage on September 5, 2026, meeting the planned start date exactly. The unit entered this maintenance period after completing 92 percent of its typical 547-day operating cycle and maintaining an unscheduled-outage-free streak of 246 days.

The 1,158-MW Westinghouse 4-loop PWR has a historical average refuel duration of 37.6 days across 18 prior events, with a maximum duration of 78 days recorded in 2007. Duke Energy Carolinas operates this unit along with six other U.S. nuclear units. Across the current fleet of 94 units, the industry capacity factor is 95.4 percent, with two units in refueling and two in unscheduled outages. McGuire 1 achieved a 92.6 percent capacity factor during its 2025 cycle.

HUNTERSVILLE, NC. McGuire 1 entered a refueling outage on Sep 5, 2026. The unit started on the published date (Sep 5, 2026) with a planned 28-day outage running through Oct 3, 2026.

NukeWorker's start-date projection scores 100% accuracy for this unit.

Across the U.S. fleet of 94 commercial reactors, today's combined capacity factor is 95.4% (2 units currently refueling, 2 units in unscheduled outages), above the 92.8% baseline for this month over the past five years. At the same site, McGuire 2 is running at full power. North Anna 2 also began a refueling outage within the past week. With the unit offline for refueling, that takes about 926,000 homes' worth of generation off the grid.

McGuire 1 is a 1,158-MW Westinghouse 4-loop PWR operated by Duke Energy Carolinas (commercial operation since 1981). The utility operates 6 other U.S. nuclear units. Its operating license runs through 2041 (renewed in 2003). The unit ran at a 92.6% capacity factor in 2025, a solid year of operation.

Heading to Huntersville, NC for outage work? Current per-diem averages $110/night lodging plus $68/day meals (total $178/day), and Unemployment Benefits are $350 weekly. See open nuclear jobs in North Carolina on NukeWorker.

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Sources: NRC Daily Reactor Power Status reports, utility-published outage schedules, and NukeWorker's projections.