Feeding the Nukes: U.S. Power Industry Plans Refueling Outages for Second-Half 2018

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Most nuclear power plants power down every 18 to 24 months, during which time workers replace about one-third of the used fuel assemblies with new ones, according to a March posting in Duke Energy Corporation's (NYSE:DUK) (Charlotte, North Carolina) Nuclear Information Center, titled "Why nuclear outages are actually a good thing." Such planned temporary shutdowns often occur in the spring and fall, when energy demand is lower, and allow nuclear plant operators to perform inspections and maintenance.

Industrial Info is tracking more than $706 million worth of planned refueling maintenance outage completions that are planned for the second half of 2018 in the U.S. In comparison, $637 million worth of such outage completions were tracked in the first half of 2018, and $400 million worth in the second half of 2017.

Click the image at right for a graph showing second-half 2018 U.S. nuclear power plant refueling maintenance outages by market region.

The planned second-half 2018 outages range in value from $12 million to $28 million. According to Duke, the typical refueling outage duration for U.S. nuclear plants is 35 days, among the shortest average in recent decades.

In Huntersville, North Carolina, Duke Energy is planning a $28 million refueling maintenance outage for Unit #02 of the McGuire Nuclear Power Station. The 29-day outage for the 1,129-megawatt (MW) unit is expected to kick off in September. BHI Energy (Bartlett Nuclear)(Weymouth, Massachusetts) is the onsite contractor for the project. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

In Waynesboro, Georgia, Southern Company (NYSE:SO) (Atlanta, Georgia) is expected to start work in September on a $28 million, 24-day outage for the 1,150-MW Nuclear Unit #1 at the Alvin W. Vogtle Nuclear Power Station. General Electric (NYSE:GE) (Boston, Massachusetts), Day & Zimmermann (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Williams Industrial Services Group, LLC (Tucker, Georgia) are listed as the project contractors. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

And in Wadsworth, Texas, work is expected to begin in October on a 38-day outage at NRG Energy Incorporated's (NYSE:NRG) (Houston, Texas) Incorporated's South Texas Project Nuclear Generating Station, valued at $27 million. Day & Zimmerman and BHI Energy are the contractors for the 1,280-MW Unit #01 outage project. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

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