Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant

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The Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant is an electricity-generating facility located in Red Wing, Minnesota along the Mississippi River, adjacent to the Prairie Island Indian Community reservation. The nuclear power plant, which first began operating in 1973, is licensed to operate through 2013 and 2014. The plant is owned by Northern States Power Company (NSP), today a subsidiary of Xcel Energy. One of two active nuclear facilities in Minnesota, has proven to be the most controversial due to the storage of nuclear waste in large steel casks on-site, an area which is a floodplain of the Mississippi. In September 2004, Xcel requested that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) renew the licenses of both reactors, extending them for an additional twenty years. The license renewals are not expected until 2010. The company has also requested the use of a similar storage system at its Monticello plant, which is currently licensed through 2030. In May 2006 repair workers at the plant were exposed to very low levels of radiation due to inhalation of radioactive iodine-131 (131I) gas. The gas leaked from the steam generators, which were opened for inspection. 131I gas is normally removed by means of a carbon-based filter; in this case the filter had developed a small leak. The NRC deemed this event to be of very low safety significance and notes that it did not result in any overdose. Source: Wikipedia #3d #BWR #designsbyalx #Fukushima_disaster #Nuclear_plant #Prairie_island #Xcel_Energy