America's 93 commercial nuclear reactors provide nearly 20% of the nation's electricity. Each unit typically undergoes a refueling outage every 18-24 months, during which thousands of maintenance tasks must be completed safely and efficiently. With each day of outage costing $1-2 million in replacement power, optimizing outage schedules has become critical. Advanced maintenance outage planning with AI scheduling is helping nuclear operators achieve industry-leading outage performance.
Nuclear Outage Complexity
- Scale: 10,000-20,000 work orders per outage
- Duration: Target 20-30 days for refueling outages
- Workforce: 1,500-3,000 supplemental workers
- Regulatory: NRC oversight and compliance requirements
- Safety: ALARA (radiation exposure) considerations
Industry Benchmark
Top-quartile US nuclear plants achieve refueling outages under 25 days. AI scheduling helps optimize critical path activities and resource allocation to meet aggressive targets.
AI Scheduling Applications
Specialized maintenance outage planning software addresses the unique requirements of nuclear facilities:
- Critical path optimization and compression
- Resource leveling across crafts and contractors
- Radiation dose optimization (ALARA scheduling)
- Emergent work integration
- Real-time schedule recovery
US Nuclear Fleet
- Southeast: Duke, Southern Company, Dominion
- Midwest: Exelon, Xcel Energy fleet
- Northeast: Entergy, PSEG operations
- West: Arizona Public Service, PG&E
Optimize Your Outage Performance
See how AI scheduling can reduce outage duration and costs at your nuclear facility.
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