Overview
The refuelling counter measures how many equivalent full-power days (EFPD) each French nuclear unit has consumed since its last refuelling. EFPD represents cumulative generation normalised by capacity — a day at 50% power counts as 0.5 EFPD, not 1.
By comparing the fuel consumed so far against the historical maximum observed between two refuellings, we estimate how many full-power days of operation the unit has left before it needs to refuel.
Key indicators
Indicator | Description |
Days since last refuelling | EFPD consumed since the last refuelling outage |
Max days without refuelling | Longest observed EFPD between two refuellings for this unit (proxy for fuel capacity) |
Days to next refuelling outage | Calendar days from today to the start of the next scheduled refuelling outage |
Days of full power operation left | Estimated EFPD remaining before the unit needs to refuel |
Status | Refuelling (currently refuelling), Short on fuel (estimated fuel won't last until next refuelling), or OK |
Accessing the data
You can access refuelling indicators via :
Terminal: view unit-level status and refuelling date information.
API: retrieve all refuelling indicators for the French nuclear fleet via this API endpoint
FAQ
Does "days to next refuelling outage" subtract planned/unplanned outage days?
No. It is a calendar day countdown from today to the next refuelling outage start date. It does not subtract modulation, fuel-saving, or unplanned outage periods.
The fuel consumption side is where those effects are captured: since the counter is based on actual generation relative to capacity, periods of reduced output (modulation, partial outages, etc.) naturally slow down fuel consumption. This is reflected in "days of full power operation left", not in "days to next refuelling outage".
How often is the refuelling counter updated?
Refuelling metrics are updated every 2 hours. Outages are ingested as soon as they are published, and their impact on the refuelling indicators (e.g. days of full power operation left) will be reflected at the next update.
What qualifies as a refuelling outage?
An outage qualifies as a refuelling outage only if the unit is fully offline for over a month. Shorter or partial outages are not considered in this methodology.