Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant
| Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant | |
|---|---|
 |
|
 Location of Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant
|
|
| Country | United States |
| Location | Monticello, Minnesota |
| Coordinates | 45°20′1″N 93°50′57″W / 45.33361°N 93.84917°WCoordinates: 45°20′1″N 93°50′57″W / 45.33361°N 93.84917°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | June 19, 1967 |
| Commission date | June 30, 1971 |
| Construction cost | $455.8 million (2007 USD) |
| Owner(s) | Xcel Energy |
| Operator(s) | Northern States Power |
| Nuclear power station | |
| Reactor type | BWR-3 |
| Reactor supplier | General Electric |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | 1 x 671 MW |
| Annual output | 4,192 GWh |
|
Website [3] |
|
The Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant is a nuclear power plant located in Monticello, Minnesota, along the Mississippi River. The site, which began operating in 1971, has a single nuclear reactor (boiling water reactor) of the General Electric BWR-3 design generating 671 MWe. The reactor was originally licensed to operate until 2010, however on November 8, 2006, it was extended to operate until 2030.
The plant is owned by Xcel Energy and operated by Northern States Power, its regional subsidiary.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission defines two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants: a plume exposure pathway zone with a radius of 10 miles (16 km), concerned primarily with exposure to, and inhalation of, airborne radioactive contamination, and an ingestion pathway zone of about 50 miles (80 km), concerned primarily with ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity.
The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16 km) of Monticello was 62,976, an increase of 36.5 percent in a decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com. The 2010 U.S. population within 50 miles (80 km) was 2,977,934, an increase of 8.6 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Minneapolis (38 miles to city center) and St. Paul (45 miles to city center).
Roughly 1,300 gallons of radioactive water which accidentally leaked from the plant into the Mississippi River in an incident on 5 May 1982, was determined to be "no threat" to the public.
In January 2007 a 13-ton control box fell eight to twelve inches and caused an unexpected shutdown. This control box was located in the condenser room of the turbine building and contained valves which controlled steam pressure. Emergency response teams at the station deemed that the event was likely caused by inadequate welds at the time of installation and fatigue due to vibrations over the life of the plant.
Construction of the on-site independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) pad began in June 2007. The target date for the completion of the pads is December 2007 with insertion of the first ten dry storage containers (holding spent fuel assemblies) into horizontal storage modules (HSMs) in mid-2008. Initially, 12 HSMs will be placed on the storage pad. Each HSM—a thick, reinforced, pre-cast concrete structure about the size of a single car garage—has the capacity to hold 61 fuel bundles.
...
Wikipedia