Basic Facts:
- Location: Red Wing, Minnesota
- Owner: Xcel Energy
- Operator: Northern States Power Co
- Construction Cost: $1.2B (2018$)
- Plant Output: 1,000 MW (combined)
- Property Size: 2,100 acres
- Status: Operational
- Employees: 870
- Expected Shut Down Date: Unit 1 (2033), Unit 2 (2034)
- Current DTF Balance: $790M (2018$)
- DTF Balance Prior to Decommissioning: $1.1B (2018$)
- Decommissioning Cost Estimate: $880M (2018$)
- Spent Nuclear Fuel on Site: 969 metric tons
Background
The Prairie Island nuclear power station consists of two pressurized water reactors. Construction began in 1968 (Unit 1) and 1969 (Unit 2) with licensed operations commencing in 1973 and 1974 respectively.
In 2011, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted a twenty-year license renewal for both units, extending their licensed operational life to 2033 (Unit 1) and 2034 (Unit 2).
Socioeconomics
The Prairie Island nuclear power plant is located within Goodhue County, Minnesota. As of 2016, socioeconomic information is as follows:
- Population: 46,000
- Per Capita Annual Income: $49,000
- Unemployment rate (not seasonally adjusted): 2.3%
The Prairie Island nuclear facility employs 870 full-time workers, with an annual payroll of approximately $120M including benefits.
Contact Information
Economic Development Administration Representative:
- Darrin Fleener, Chicago Regional Office, t: (312) 789-9753, e: [email protected]
University Center
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
- Viktoria Mitlyng, Sr. Public Affairs Officer, t: (630) 829-9662, e: [email protected]
- Prairie Island 1, Prairie Island 2
Unless specific costing information has been provided, decommissioning costs were derived from 2017 Decommissioning Funding Status Report.
Information herein obtained from public sources. Corrections are welcome and may be directed to [email protected].
Additional Information
Flooding and Nuclear Waste Eat Away at a Tribe’s Ancestral Home
Flooding and Nuclear Waste Eat Away at a Tribe’s Ancestral HomeThe federal government allowed a stockpile of spent fuel on a Minnesota reservation to balloon even as a dam project whittled down the amount of livable land. For decades, chronic flooding and nuclear waste have encroached on the ancestral lands in southeastern Minnesota that the […]
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