Salem 1 begins Fall 2026 refueling outage

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Salem 1, Hancocks Bridge, New Jersey.

Salem 1 began a routine refueling outage on October 4, 2026, starting precisely on its planned date. The PSEG Nuclear plant has a scheduled duration of 50 days for this maintenance period.

The 1,153-MW Westinghouse 4-loop pressurized water reactor entered this refueling outage after maintaining a 624-day unscheduled-outage-free streak. Salem 1 had run about 90 percent of its typical 549-day operating cycle following an 85 percent capacity factor during its 2025 cycle. PSEG Nuclear operates two other United States nuclear units, while the broader nuclear fleet records an 85.2 percent capacity factor across 94 units.

HANCOCKS BRIDGE, NJ. Salem 1 came offline on Oct 4, 2026 for refueling. The unit started on the published date (Oct 4, 2026) with a planned 50-day outage running through Nov 23, 2026.

Going into the refueling, the unit had run for about 21 months without an unscheduled outage. NukeWorker's start-date projection scores 99% accuracy for this unit.

Across the U.S. fleet of 94 commercial reactors, today's combined capacity factor is 85.2% (12 units currently refueling, 1 unit in an unscheduled outage), above the 81.8% baseline for this month over the past five years. At the same site, Salem 2 is running at full power. Palo Verde 1, Prairie Island 1, Robinson 2, and Sequoyah 2 also began refueling outages within the past week. With the unit offline for refueling, that takes about 922,000 homes' worth of generation off the grid.

Salem 1 is a 1,153-MW Westinghouse 4-loop PWR operated by PSEG Nuclear (commercial operation since 1977). The utility operates 2 other U.S. nuclear units. Its operating license runs through 2036 (renewed in 2011). The unit ran at a 85.0% capacity factor in 2025, a steady year.

View Salem 1's ratings, history, projections, and current status on NukeWorker.

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