MINNEAPOLIS (Press Release) - Officials at the Prairie Island nuclear plant near Red Wing have
terminated a Notification of Unusual Event.
The event was declared Wednesday at 2:18 p.m. Plant officials made the declaration
due to the temporary failure of some security equipment. The equipment has been
restored, and plant officials are evaluating the cause. Plant security was
maintained throughout the event.
The declaration was terminated at 5:54 p.m. following a thorough assessment of
plant conditions. That assessment confirmed there were no issues or conditions
that warranted continuation of the declaration.
At no point was there any release of
radioactive materials and there was no danger to the public or plant employees.
Plant operations were not affected by this
event. Unit 1 remains off-line for its planned refueling outage. Unit 2 is
operating safely at full power.
A Notification
of Unusual Event declaration is the lowest of four emergency classifications
established by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The declaration
indicates a potential reduction in the level of safety at the plant but no
threat to public safety. The declaration's purpose is to have the plant's
operating staff reach a state of readiness for emergency response if necessary.
The Prairie
Island nuclear plant is
28 miles southeast of Minneapolis-St. Paul and about six miles northwest of Red
Wing. The plant's two pressurized water reactors generate 1,076 megawatts of
electricity. Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy owns and operates the plant.
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MINNEAPOLIS (Press Release) - Officials at the Prairie Island nuclear plant near Red Wing declared a Notification of Unusual Event Wednesday at 2:18 p.m.
There was no release of radioactive materials and there is no danger to the public or plant employees.
Plant officials made the declaration due to the temporary failure of some security equipment. The equipment has been restored, and plant officials are evaluating the cause. Plant security was maintained throughout the event.
Unit 2 continues to operate at full power. Unit 1 remains off-line as part of a scheduled refueling outage.
Notification of Unusual Event declaration is the lowest of four emergency classifications established by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The declaration indicates a potential reduction in the level of safety at the plant, but no threat to public safety. The declaration's purpose is to have the plant's operating staff reach a state of readiness for emergency response if necessary.
The Prairie Island nuclear plant is 28 miles southeast of Minneapolis-St. Paul and about six miles northwest of Red Wing. The plant's two pressurized water reactors generate 1,076 megawatts of electricity. Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy owns and operates the plant.
Xcel Energy has notified all appropriate federal, state and local officials of the event.
