Monticello nuclear plant to be temporarily shut down to fix leak - KSTP

Monticello nuclear plant to be temporarily shut down to fix leak - KSTP.com 5 Eyewitness News

Monticello nuclear plant to be temporarily shut down to fix leak

Chopper 5 captures the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant from the air on Friday, March 17, 2023. (KSTP)

Xcel Energy will power down the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant on Friday to fix a new leak of radioactive water from one of the facility’s pipes.

Xcel, which owns the plant, says the first leak was discovered in November and was immediately reported to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Once the source of the leak was found in mid-December, a temporary solution was put in place to recapture the water for reuse at the plant. However, the leak was not reported to the public until last week.

But on Wednesday, Xcel discovered that some of the contaminated water was spilling and reaching the groundwater, spurring the utility company to shut down the plant to make permanent repairs.

In a news release Thursday, Xcel said the leakage over the past two days was estimated to be “in the hundreds of gallons,” a stark contrast to the more than 400,000 gallons that had escaped while Xcel worked to pinpoint the leak, which turned out to be in a pipe leading between two buildings.

Officials say the water contains tritium, a slightly radioactive form of hydrogen that occurs as a byproduct of the nuclear reactor.

The utility company said the shutdown is necessary to replace the pipe, and while it’s not expected to affect customers’ electricity service, it’s unclear when the plant will be back up and running.

On top of the emergency repairs, the plant was already scheduled to undergo refueling, maintenance and construction this spring, all of which can only happen while the plant is dormant, the company said.

Officials maintain that the leak does not pose a threat to public safety.

State regulators and Xcel maintain that none of the tritium-contaminated water left the nuclear plant site and that the leak did not reach the Mississippi River nor affect drinking water.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency applauded Xcel’s decision to shut the plant down earlier than planned and said there continues to be no reason to believe there is a risk to the surrounding community.

“State agencies have no evidence at this point to indicate a current or imminent risk to the public and will continue to monitor groundwater samples,” the MPCA said in a statement. “Should an imminent risk arise, we will inform the public promptly.”

As of Thursday, Xcel said it had recovered 32% of the tritium released from the plant. Cleanup efforts will continue for some time to come.