Xcel nuclear storage plan gets boost in Minnesota
Date: 19-May-03
Country: USA
Minneapolis-based Xcel may have to shut the 1,076 megawatt twin-reactor station in 2007 if it cannot store more used radioactive fuel in steel and concrete casks at the plant in Red Wing, Minnesota.
The Prairie Island Mdewankanton Dakota Tribe on Wednesday approved an agreement with Xcel to accept more storage outside the plant if it is authorized by the Minnesota Legislature, said tribal spokesman Jake Reint.
Under the agreement with Xcel, the tribe will get $1 million a year for as long as Prairie Island operates, plus lesser annual amounts for emergency evacuation routes, health studies and land development.
The Minnesota Senate this week passed a bill to allow more waste and the House was expected to take up its own version of the bill later Thursday.
Xcel spokeswoman Mary Sandok said Prairie Island needs to add 12 more waste storage casks to the 17 already permitted.
The company also faces a storage problem at its Monticello nuclear plant in 2010.
Xcel has tapped San Jose, California-based Calpine Corp. (CPC.N) and private energy developer LS Power Associates in Orlando, Florida, as potential builders of two new power plants if Prairie Island is forced to shut.
Xcel also is part of a utility group seeking approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build a temporary storage dump for radioactive fuel on Indian-owned land in Utah.
The NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board will hold a hearing on the Utah proposal on May 29.
The board has blocked a license to build a 4,000-cask storage dump because of fears fighter jets from a nearby Air Force base might crash into the site.
The utility group has asked the board to reconsider storage of 336 casks.