U.S. Nuclear Energy Outages vs. Capability

Each morning, every nuclear electrical energy generator in the USA stories its working standing to the Nuclear Regulatory Fee (NRC). The NRC compiles this data in its Energy Reactor Standing Report, and we current that data in interactive visualizations on our Standing of Nuclear Outages web page. Our evaluation device combines the NRC every day standing with information gathered from our Annual Electrical Generator Report and Month-to-month Replace to the Annual Electrical Generator Report. The web page contains two maps exhibiting the capability and outage standing of U.S. nuclear crops.

Nuclear energy reactors are usually refueled each 18 to 24 months. Though the refueling course of could be accomplished in as few as 10 days, outage intervals are usually longer due to noncritical upkeep that’s accomplished concurrently with refueling to attenuate downtime over the course of the 12 months.

Nuclear mills usually function at or close to most capability. Nuclear plant operators typically schedule refueling outages for the autumn and spring months, typically known as shoulder months, when the demand for electrical energy is normally lowest as a result of demand for heating and cooling is decrease.

Though we launched the Standing of Nuclear Outages web page in 2015, it contains NRC’s every day data on nuclear reactor standing again to January 1, 2007. The web page reveals the magnitude of outages however doesn’t present data on the reason for these outages. The NRC makes extra plant standing data out there 4 weeks after the outage is initially reported.

Principal contributor: EIA Employees. Initially printed on EIA’s At this time in Power weblog.