- Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant
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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 Commission date June 30, 1971 Licence expiration September 8, 2030 Owner(s) Xcel Energy Operator(s) Xcel Energy Nuclear Department Architect(s) Bechtel Reactor information Reactors operational 1 x 610 MW Reactor type(s) BWR-3 Reactor supplier(s) General Electric Power generation information Annual generation 4,192 GW·h Website
[3]As of 2009-05-12 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 613 megawatts, but studies are ongoing to uprate it to 700 MWe.
Currently the plant is both owned and operated by Xcel Energy [1] The reactor was originally licensed to operate until 2010, however on November 8, 2006, it was extended to operate until 2030. The plant has had a solid operating history and is one of only two plants in the United States to never have received an Enforcement Action from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the other facility is North Anna Nuclear Generating Station.[2]
Contents
Surrounding population
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.[3]
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).[4]
Incidents & Updates
Roughly 1300 gallons of radioactive water accidentally leaked from the plant into the Mississippi River in an incident in 1982.[5]
The Monticello Nuclear Power Plant Control Room Simulator
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.
On September 11, 2008, a cable fault tripped the transformer which supplied power to the site. This resulted in a loss of off-site power and the plant automatically shut down.[6]
On September 17, 2008, an employee for a rental equipment company was electrocuted by one phase of the 115-kV power line outside of the plant due to a lack of situational awareness. The individual was raising a bucket lift without watching overhead and contacted one phase of the 115-kV line. The plant was offline at the time due to the forced outage described above.[7]
In February 2011, the site's plant officials determined that four control rod blades could be affected by a potentially substantial safety hazard. Vice President Tim O'Connor indicated that the blades would be replaced in March.[8][9]
Seismic risk
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's estimate of the risk each year of an earthquake intense enough to cause core damage to the reactor at Monticello was 1 in 52,632, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.[10][11] Put another way, it is expected that an earthquake would cause core damage at Monticello every 52,632 years.
References
- ^ "Nuclear plant operating licenses transferred to Xcel Energy operating utility". Xcel Energy. 2008-09-22. http://www.xcelenergy.com/Minnesota/Company/Newsroom/Pages/NewsRelease2008-08-22NuclearplantoperatinglicensestransferredtoXcelEnergyoperatingutility.aspx. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
- ^ "NRC: Escalated Enforcement Actions Issued to Reactor Licensees". Nrc.gov. 2010-10-20. http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/enforcement/actions/reactors/. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
- ^ http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/emerg-plan-prep-nuc-power-bg.html
- ^ Bill Dedman, Nuclear neighbors: Population rises near US reactors, msnbc.com, April 14, 2011 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42555888/ns/us_news-life/ Accessed May 1, 2011.
- ^ "Reactor leak 'no threat'". The Montreal Gazette. May 5, 1982. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=D4c1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=-aQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1193,2294841&dq=monticello+nuclear+generating+plant&hl=en. Retrieved March 24, 2011.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ [2][dead link]
- ^ "Possible fuel rod hazard at Xcel's Monticello nuclear plant". Star Tribune. February 16, 2011. http://www.startribune.com/local/west/116356759.html.
- ^ Gram, Dave (February 17, 2011). "Possible fuel rod hazard seen at some nuke plants". BusinessWeek. http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9LEICUO0.htm.
- ^ Bill Dedman, "What are the odds? US nuke plants ranked by quake risk," msnbc.com, March 17, 2011 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42103936/ Accessed April 19, 2011.
- ^ http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/Sections/NEWS/quake%20nrc%20risk%20estimates.pdf
External links
- "Monticello Nuclear Power Plant, Minnesota". Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). September 19, 2008. http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/at_a_glance/reactors/monticello.html. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
- "Monticello Boiling Water Reactor". Operating Nuclear Power Reactors. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). June 18, 2008. http://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/reactor/mont.html. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
- Nuclear Tourist: Monticello Nuclear Power Plant
Categories:- Buildings and structures in Wright County, Minnesota
- Energy resource facilities in Minnesota
- Nuclear power stations in the United States
- Nuclear power plants in Minnesota
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