North Anna 2 begins Fall 2026 refueling outage

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North Anna 2, Mineral, Virginia.

North Anna 2 began its scheduled refueling outage on September 6, 2026, two days earlier than the original plan. The unit entered this maintenance period after completing 95 percent of its typical 548-day operating cycle and maintaining an unscheduled-outage-free streak of 987 days.

The unit is a 944-MW Westinghouse 3-loop PWR operated by Virginia Electric and Power, which manages three other nuclear units in the United States. This refueling follows a prior cycle that achieved a 90 percent capacity factor. The outage duration is scheduled for 36 days, compared to the 43-day average recorded across 18 prior refuels. Across the fleet today, 94 units are operating with a 95.4 percent capacity factor, while two units are in refueling and two are in unscheduled outages.

MINERAL, VA. Refueling activities began at North Anna 2 on Sep 6, 2026. The published schedule had a Sep 8, 2026 start; actual is 2 days earlier than planned. Planned outage length is 36 days (back to service around Oct 14, 2026).

Going into the refueling, the unit had run for more than 2 years without an unscheduled outage. 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, North Anna 1 is running at full power. McGuire 1 also began a refueling outage within the past week. With the unit offline for refueling, that takes about 755,000 homes' worth of generation off the grid.

North Anna 2 is a 944-MW Westinghouse 3-loop PWR operated by Virginia Electric & Power (commercial operation since 1980). The utility operates 3 other U.S. nuclear units. Its operating license runs through 2060 (renewed in 2024). The unit ran at a 90.0% capacity factor in 2025, a solid year of operation.

Heading to Mineral, VA for outage work? Current per-diem averages $110/night lodging plus $68/day meals (total $178/day), and Unemployment Benefits are $378 weekly. See open nuclear jobs in Virginia on NukeWorker.

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