Minnesota has
three operating commercial nuclear power reactors. Two reactors are located near
Red Wing, Minnesota, at the Prairie Island facility and one reactor is located
near Monticello, Minnesota. All are owned by Xcel Energy. Prairie Island
generates about 1060 MW of electricity, and Monticello generates about 553
MW. Spent nuclear fuel is stored in pools at both reactor sites, and in
addition, the Prairie Island facility stores spent nuclear waste in casks
maintained above ground at the reactor site.
Background
Federal Repository
The Environmental Quality Board reports each year to the Legislature on federal activities to construct and operate a national repository for management of high-level radioactive wastes (Minn. Stat. § 116C.712).
Dry Cask Storage of High-Level Radioactive Waste
In 1991 Northern States Power Company (now Xcel Energy) sought state approval to remove radioactive wastes from the spent nuclear fuel pool at the Prairie Island generating plant and store it in dry casks on a site next to the plant. After a number of administrative proceedings, including an Environmental Impact Statement by the EQB, and a court appeal, In re Application for a Certificate of Need for an Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation, 501 N.W.2d 638 (Minn. Ct. App.), review denied by Supreme Court (1993), the Minnesota Legislature in 1994 allowed Northern States Power Company to store a limited amount of spent nuclear fuel in dry casks at its Prairie Island power plant in Goodhue County, as long as the power company met several obligations. One obligation was to make a good-faith effort to find an alternative storage site in Goodhue County (Minn. Stat. § 116C.771). The legislature also required NSP to obtain a certificate of site comparability for the alternative storage site from the Environmental Quality Board
In July 1995, Northern States Power Company proposed two possible locations for a second site, both in Florence Township near the town of Frontenac in Goodhue County, Minnesota. The Environmental Quality Board accepted this application in August 1995, beginning the site evaluation process.
The Environmental Quality Board appointed a citizen task force to help review the proposal. The task force held several public meetings between September 1995 and January 1996.
In January 1996, the task force presented its report. Based on expected environmental and human impact, the task force recommended that both sites proposed by NSP be rejected. The task force also looked for other possible sites. It evaluated 16 sites using the same criteria and recommended that none be considered further.
In October 1996, the Environmental Quality Board denied NSP`s application for alternate sites. The Prairie Island Mdewakanton Sioux Community appealed this decision. In May 1997, the Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld the Environmental Quality Board decision. In the Matter of the Northern States Power Company Application for a Certificate of Site Compatibility for the Goodhue County Independent Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility, 563 N.W.2d. 302 (Minn. Ct. App.), review denied by Supreme Court (1997).
As of July 30, 2002, Northern States Power Company had filled all of the 17 authorized casks with spent nuclear fuel.