“For over 50 years, we have maintained, invested in and improved the Monticello plant to ensure it can continue to deliver for the communities we serve,” said Chris Church, Xcel’s chief nuclear officer.“By extending operations at the plant, we are carrying this commitment forward, and at the same time renewing our investment in the community of Monticello and the surrounding region,” he continued.

The federal authorization allows the 53-year-old nuclear reactor — which went online in June 1971 — to operate for an additional 20 years — from 2030 through 2050 — provided the extension also meets with state regulators’ approval.

The NRC’s decision is based on a 527-page “Final Environmental Impact Statement” or FEIS, which found that Xcel’s license extension application is not unreasonable, although no power reactor has ever before operated for 80 years.

Without the NRC’s approval, the plant — one of the oldest of 93 operating reactors in the nation — would have had to close on Sept. 8, 2030, according to its last license, which was renewed in 2006.

As far as the state goes, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) already agreed to extend operations in Monticello through 2040. In the future, Xcel said, it will be seeking further PUC approval for the additional 10 years.

Lengthy renewal processThe federal license renewal follows a lengthy nearly two-year review process led by the NRC, initiated after Xcel applied to renew the Monticello plant’s license in January 2023. It included numerous inspections, audits and evaluations of the plant to ensure it meets or exceeds safety and environmental standards.

During 2023 alone, the NRC said it spent a total of 2,559 hours performing inspections and related oversight activities at the Monticello plant.

“Our regulations were designed to ensure safety,” NRC branch chief Rick Skokowski had said following a safety performance review back in May. “And we verify that through our inspection activities and other oversight activities to ensure that the plants will be safe.”

Xcel said the continued operation of the plant — and its counterpart at Prairie Island, near Red Wing — is key to the utility’s transition to carbon-free electricity as it pivots away from coal.

“As the only 24/7 carbon-free energy source we have, nuclear energy will be key to accelerating our journey to a clean energy future while ensuring we also meet the unprecedented growth in our customers’ demand for electricity,” said Bob Frenzel, Xcel’s chairman, president and CEO.

The Monticello facility alone produces enough energy to power more than half a million homes in the utility’s Upper Midwest region, which includes Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota and Michigan, Xcel said.

“The Monticello plant has long been an essential source of clean, safe and reliable energy, powering more than 500,000 homes annually in the Upper Midwest,” Frenzel said.

Combined with Prairie Island, the two plants make enough energy to power 1.5 million households, according to Gregory Brown, general manager of nuclear fleet operations, who serves as the Monticello plant’s general manager.

Local impactThe Monticello plant also plays a significant role in the local community and economy, serving as the city’s largest employer, staffing roughly 470 workers.

The nuclear facility is also the City of Monticello’s single-largest taxpayer — although the plant continues to account for less of the tax base as it decreases in market value.

In 2025, the Xcel property is expected to shoulder 37% of the city’s tax burden — about $5.2 million. In 2024, Xcel accounted for 40% of the tax capacity, which was also around $5.2 million.

In comparison, Xcel comprised 49% of the tax base in 2022 and 45% in 2023.

The Nuclear Energy Institute reported in 2017 that Xcel’s nuclear facilities in Minnesota contribute an estimated $33 million in state and local taxes annually.

Safety concernsDespite the benefits locally, the plant is not without its critics, who often tout safety concerns.

The anti-nuclear sentiment grew stronger following a November 2022 tritium leak in which as much as 900,000 gallons of contaminated water containing the radioactive isotope were released, with some of the tainted water making its way into the Mississippi River.

Although officials maintain there was no threat to the public, the subsequent actions of Xcel, the NRC and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) — who failed to notify the public until months later, in March 2023, and originally underreported the estimated volume of the leak — only continued to breed distrust.

While the MPCA fined Xcel $14,000 in relation to violations during clean up of the leak, no formal sanction or reprimand was ever issued by the NRC even after contamination of the river was confirmed.

Vocal naysayers include Nukewatch, a Wisconsin-based environmental and peace action watchdog group; Coalition for a Nuclear-free Mississippi River, made up of environmental, climate and peace-and-justice groups; and the Monticello-based Rainbow Warrior Collective MN.

Nukewatch co-director John LaForge said the NRC’s decision is disappointing, especially given that the nuclear reactor will now be operating 40 years beyond its initially engineered lifetime.

“There is too big a risk of accidents with reactors this old,” he said. “Tritium leaks, broken welds, leaking underground pipes, radioactive waste cask deficiencies, and dangerous embrittlement of reactor fuel tubes, all risk catastrophic radiation releases. This amounts to a violation of public trust by Xcel.”

LaForge is also miffed that the NRC granted Xcel’s request to inspect its aged underground pipes only once every 10 years in spite of the tritium leak.

The Coalition for a Nuclear-Free Mississippi River has vowed to see the reactor closed well before the licensed limit through its Save the Mississippi campaign (www.savethemississippi.com).

Article from The Elk River Star News