Minnesota Nuclear Reactor—Safe

The situation is worsening at the three nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in quake-ravaged Japan. At last estimates, Japan has evacuated more than 150,000 people from a 30-mile radius around the plant. Meanwhile, nuclear administrators and workers at the local Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant, less than 40 miles from Minnetonka, are watching with vested interest.

And an uneasy local public wonders, “Could it happen here?”

The short answer is probably not - the two plants in this state aren't anywhere near a major fault line and a tsunami risk is virtually nil. But the long answer to a deadly one-two punch scenario like the one that hit Japan is, simply, unknown.

Monticello’s staff has run through dozens of different emergency scenarios, including a terrorist attack where a jumbo jet is flown into the reactor building and a security breach is conducted by a roadside bomb. In each and every case, staff at the plant follows safety steps created by plant executives and engineers to carefully shut down the plant, contain the reactor core and limit the amount of radiation released into the air below national standards.

They also drill for response to natural disasters, including tornado activity. The plant, in fact, had a small tornado pass over Monticello last year.

In each case, precautions have been taken and plans have been made. The Monticello plant, which is a boiling water plant much like the facility in Japan, can deal with loss of power, damage to the core buildings and more. And engineers also have a last-ditch plan that can douse the core with river water, which is actually safer than using seawater (that actually destroys the generator).

“All nuclear power plants, including ours, are built to withstand environmental hazards, including earthquakes, tornadoes and floods. Even those plants that are located outside of areas with extensive seismic activity are designed for safety in the event of such a natural disaster,” Xcel officials said in a press release issued to Patch yesterday by Monticello spokesperson Patrick Thompson. 
“The NRC requires that safety-significant structures, systems, and components be designed to take into account the most severe natural phenomena historically reported for a site and surrounding area. The NRC then adds a margin for error to account for the historical data’s limited accuracy. In other words, U.S. nuclear power plants are designed to be safe based on historical data from the area’s maximum credible earthquake.”

As for other emergencies, redundancy processes protect those, the energy company said. The Japanese plant was crippled when the facility lost all power after batteries failed and generators were swamped with seawater from the tsunami waves.

“Each plant has several redundant back-up systems to ensure the reactors are maintained in safe condition should the plant lose off-site power,” the statement read.

Monticello Plant Executive Director John Grubb said he was monitoring Japan but far too busy with the current outage at his own plant to let it occupy too much of his time.

More than 1,000 laborers will be on site this year at the Monticello plant as the generating station, which is now licensed to be in operation until 2030, updates its power output to provide more energy the regional Xcel Energy grid. The plant is not generating power during this time.

There will be, however, a transfer of nuclear waste to the storage containment facility at the Monticello site. The so-called “dry casks” are huge, concrete containers that include a metallic core housing for the spent fuel rods. They are designed to withstand several different forces of impact, including tornado activity, staff said.

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MINNETONKA & THE NUCLEAR REACTOR DEBATE

Republicans in St. Paul have been pushing a measure to repeal Minnesota's 1994 moratorium on construction of new nuclear power plants in the state. The Senate and House have already approved the repeal and Governor Mark Dayton has said he may consider the proposal. But there is no question that the current nuclear crisis in Japan has put this legislation—and the end to this moratorium—in jeopardy.

On Feb. 2, 2011 the Minnesota Senate approved the repeal, followed by the house on Feb. 17. Area legislators voting in favor were Sen. Terri Bonoff (DFL-District 43), Sen. David Hann (R-District 42), Sen. Gen Olson (R-District 33), Rep. Connie Doepke (R-District 33B), and Rep. Kirk Stensrud (R-District 42A). Rep. John Benson (DFL-District 43B) voted against the repeal.