North American nuclear plants face maintenance squeeze as ageing assets and contractor shortages add pressure 

One in three respondents say more than a quarter of critical assets need measures to manage deterioration or extend their operating lives, while two-thirds identify qualified contractor shortages as a potential cause of outage delays.

Integrated Global Services (IGS), a global leader in engineered surface protection and asset integrity today releases new research that shows nuclear facilities across North America face a potential maintenance capacity squeeze. The survey, conducted with engineers, operators and maintenance teams working in the nuclear industry across the United States and Canada found that one in three (33%) reported more than a quarter of critical assets require life-extension measures or active ageing management. At the same time, over two-thirds (67%) identified a shortage of qualified contractors as one of the two issues most likely to extend a planned outage or delay a return to service. 

The findings come as rising U.S. electricity demand, driven partly by the rapid expansion of AI and data centers, places greater importance on maintaining reliable power supplies. In response, the U.S. Department of Energy is supporting efforts to restart previously closed nuclear reactors, such as Palisades in Michigan, and identifying nuclear as an increasingly important part of the future energy mix. However, bringing older facilities back into service and extending the operating lives of existing plants means ensuring older equipment remains safe and reliable, adding to the maintenance demands facing nuclear operators. 

The challenge becomes more pressing when degradation affects equipment that is difficult to access or repair. More than eight in ten respondents said they had encountered asset deterioration in hard-to-reach areas sometimes or very often over the past year. Such repairs can require specialist expertise and careful scheduling within planned outage windows. With qualified contractors already identified as a leading potential constraint, operators need to consider how maintenance work can be completed efficiently without allowing the same problems to return during future outages. 

Keith Reeser, Senior Director at IGS, says: "Extending the life of nuclear facilities means getting more from equipment that has already been operating for decades. The challenge is that specialist maintenance resources are not unlimited and every repair has to be planned around strict safety requirements and outage schedules. Operators need to look beyond the immediate repair and consider long-term maintenance strategies. The more work that returns during subsequent outages, the greater the demand on an already stretched workforce." 

The potential impact on of maintenance challenges is reflected in respondents' confidence in their existing plans. Only a quarter (27%) are very confident that their existing maintenance plans could support longer operating lives, while nearly four in five respondents (78%) said that reducing maintenance requirements during future planned outages is important when evaluating solutions for ageing assets. Together, these findings suggest operators see value in approaches that make maintenance more manageable over the longer term, particularly as facilities prepare to keep existing assets in service for longer. 

Reeser continues: “Advances in asset protection and maintenance technologies offer nuclear operators an opportunity to reduce the pressure on already stretched resources. New approaches to surface engineering, alongside improved inspection and monitoring technologies, can help operators extend the service life of critical equipment and reduce the need for repeated repairs. The North American findings also suggest greater scope for longer-term solutions, with just over a quarter (27%) citing difficulty proving long-term value as their biggest barrier to adoption, compared with 43% globally which reflect the growing appeal of solutions that reduce maintenance demands as operators manage ageing assets and shortages of qualified contractors.”