MEXICO · ENERGY
Key Facts
- —The country Mexico, a top US trading partner, has one nuclear plant, run by the state-owned utility CFE.
- —Why it matters Factories serving US customers rely on a grid where nuclear is a small share.
- —Why now Mexico’s energy secretary and the CFE chief toured the plant on Friday 23 October 2026.
- —What happened They watched refuelling, a scheduled fuel swap done every 18 months.
- —What it means for you No supply cut was announced; nuclear stays a small slice of Mexican power.
- —Still open Which unit is refuelling, when it ends and what it costs.
- —Power Index Mexico ranks 2nd of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 71.4 points (October 2026 edition).
In Plain English
CFE is the Comisión Federal de Electricidad, Mexico’s state-owned power company, and it runs the country’s only nuclear plant. Refuelling means swapping about one third of the uranium fuel bundles in a reactor core for fresh ones, which CFE does on a fixed 18-month cycle.
A megawatt (MW) is one million watts of power. “Firm” power is output that can be counted on at any hour, unlike wind or solar.
The Laguna Verde nuclear plant in Veracruz, Mexico’s only nuclear power station, is in a scheduled refuelling, and two senior officials watched part of it on Friday 23 October 2026. Energy Secretary Luz Elena González Escobar and Emilia Calleja Alor, director general of the state utility CFE, toured the site, according to a joint statement carried by El Financiero and XEU.
For US readers the plant matters because it feeds the grid behind Mexican factories that supply American customers, and Expansión reported in May 2025 that Nissan Mexicana takes 90% of the power for its three Mexican plants from Laguna Verde under a direct CFE contract. The visit announced no new policy, cost or shutdown date, so it is mainly a maintenance story with a grid-reliability angle.
CFE also made news on reliability one day earlier, when its director general said outages had fallen 37%, as we covered in Mexico Power Firm Says Outages Fell 37%. That is a separate development from this visit.
What Officials Saw at Laguna Verde
The statement says the two officials watched the refuelling, which it calls one of the most technically important activities at the plant. It adds that the job is carried out on a schedule, once every 18 months.
Refuelling replaces about one third of the fuel assemblies in the reactor core, the statement says. During the same period, crews also inspect and service equipment, including the steam turbine.
The statement says the visit let the officials see how safety standards are applied in these operations and recognise the work of CFE specialists. It also describes the visit as a chance for the Energy Ministry and CFE to renew close coordination on the priorities of the power sector.
The plant stands in Alto Lucero, on the Gulf of Mexico coast of Veracruz state. The statement credits its two generating units with 1,600 MW of firm power that produces no greenhouse gases for the national grid.
XEU, a Veracruz radio station, and El Financiero, a Mexico City business daily, both published the same account on Friday evening and attribute it to the joint release. Neither gives a count of fuel assemblies, a start or end date, or a cost.
How Nuclear Refuelling Works
The Laguna Verde nuclear plant has two boiling-water reactors of the BWR-5 type, built with General Electric designs, the World Nuclear Association says. In this design ordinary water boils around the fuel and the steam drives the turbine that makes electricity.
A fuel assembly is a bundle of sealed metal tubes filled with uranium pellets. Replacing about one third at each stop refreshes the core in stages instead of all at once.
The statement does not say which of the two units is being refuelled or whether it is shut down during the work. It says only that the stop includes inspection and maintenance, with the steam turbine named as one of the items.
Why Mexico’s Only Nuclear Plant Matters
The World Nuclear Association, an industry body, says Mexico’s two reactors generate about 4% of its electricity and that Unit 1 joined the grid on 9 April 1989 and Unit 2 on 10 November 1994. It also says the government approved a 30-year licence extension for Unit 1 in July 2020, allowing it to run until July 2050.
The association lists the two units at 777 MW and 775 MW net, or 1,552 MW in total, while the joint statement says 1,600 MW. The sources reviewed do not explain the gap between the two figures.
The association adds that President Claudia Sheinbaum has said her administration is not looking to expand nuclear capacity and that the 2025 to 2039 power-sector plan includes no new nuclear units. On that basis Laguna Verde remains Mexico’s only nuclear plant for now.
For a wider view of who runs Mexican power and money, see our guides Who Dominates Mexico, Elites and Regions Explained and Who Runs Mexico’s Economy, the Key Players in 2026. Our explainer on Mexico nearshoring shows why power supply matters to factories that sell into the United States.
Earlier Warnings About Plant Staffing
The 23 October statement does not mention a debate that has surrounded the plant since May. In July 2026 the magazine Proceso quoted former Laguna Verde managers who said the constitutional pay cap in Article 127 discourages staff from taking senior posts, and that five certified operators had declined permanent senior posts outside the union.
The former managers warned of fatigue, unfilled posts and, in the worst case, a shutdown for lack of qualified staff, and one of them, Fernando Barrera, said the alert does not mean the plant is unsafe. Proceso also reported that a retirees’ association of more than 700 people wrote in May to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the World Association of Nuclear Operators and Mexico’s nuclear safety commission, and these remain claims by former staff.
CFE said on 25 May, after social-media reports of an operational and staffing crisis, that the plant operates safely, reliably and within current regulatory standards, according to Yahoo Noticias. It added that the national nuclear safety commission oversees the plant and that staff training and certification continue.
On 27 August, during the annual external radiological emergency drill, residents of Actopan and Úrsulo Galván asked plant managers for a report on the state of evacuation roads, Meganoticias reported. The plant’s response to that request is not described in the sources reviewed.
What It Means for You
For US businesses with plants or suppliers in Mexico, the visit is a reminder that grid reliability is a production risk, although the statement announces no supply cut or change in output. Investors who follow Mexican assets can watch CFE’s reliability figures and its plant-maintenance record, which are part of how the state utility is judged.
For travellers and residents in Veracruz, the statement announces no change to safety rules or local services. The plant’s August emergency drill covered a radius of about 16 kilometres around the site, Infobae reported.
What Is Not Known
The statement does not say which unit is being refuelled, when the work began or when it will end, and it gives no count of fuel assemblies or cost. It also does not say whether output is reduced during the work.
It is not known whether the visit was linked to the staffing warnings, and the sources reviewed do not show whether CFE has changed any pay or promotion rules for plant staff. The gap between the 1,600 MW in the statement and the 1,552 MW net total listed by the World Nuclear Association is also unexplained, as is the plant’s share of national power, which the association puts at about 4% and Infobae at 6.52%.
The primary text of the joint release could not be opened for this article, because the Energy Ministry and CFE press pages did not serve it. The account rests on El Financiero and XEU, which agree on every detail they share.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Mexico’s officials do at Laguna Verde?
Energy Secretary Luz Elena González Escobar and CFE director general Emilia Calleja Alor toured the plant on Friday 23 October 2026 and watched the refuelling. The joint statement says they also reviewed safety practices and renewed coordination between the ministry and CFE.
What is nuclear refuelling?
It is the scheduled swap of about one third of the fuel assemblies in a reactor core for fresh ones, done every 18 months at Laguna Verde. Crews also inspect and service equipment, including the steam turbine.
How much power does the Laguna Verde nuclear plant produce?
The joint statement says its two units supply 1,600 MW of firm power to the national grid. The World Nuclear Association lists 1,552 MW net and says nuclear supplies about 4% of Mexico’s electricity.
Is the plant safe?
CFE said on 25 May that it operates safely and in line with regulatory standards under the national nuclear safety commission. Former managers have warned about staffing, which remains a claim, and the 23 October statement does not address it.
What does it mean for US readers?
It concerns the reliability of the grid that powers Mexican factories serving US customers, and no supply cut was announced. Nuclear is a small share, about 4% according to the World Nuclear Association.
Sources: El Financiero, 23 October 2026; XEU, 23 October 2026; World Nuclear Association, Nuclear Power in Mexico, updated 8 July 2026; Expansión, 8 May 2025; Proceso, July 2026; Yahoo Noticias, CFE statement of 25 May 2026; Infobae, 29 August 2026; Meganoticias, 28 August 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief