Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant, 35 Miles Upriver from Fridley, Has Drilled for Disasters

As the situation worsens at the three nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant  in quake-ravaged Japan, nuclear administrators and workers at the local Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant, about 35 miles northeast of Fridley, are watching with vested interest.

And an uneasy public also 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. (Xcel Energy's Prairie Island plant is about 50 miles downriver from Fridley.) 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 emergency scenarios, including a terrorist attack in which a jumbo jet flies into the reactor building. Staff at the plant follow safety steps created by plant executives and engineers to shut down the plant, contain the reactor core and keep 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.

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. Engineers also have a last-ditch plan to douse the core with river water—safer than using seawater, which 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 Monday. 

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 seawater from tsunami waves swamped generators.

According to Xcel Energy: 

Each plant has several redundant back-up systems to ensure the reactors are maintained in safe condition should the plant lose off-site power, and our operators train specifically to respond to blackout conditions. Our plants’ back-up systems include diesel generators with enough fuel to run for a week to supply power to safety-related equipment and battery back-ups to supply power to critical pumps, valves, nuclear instrumentation and emergency lighting. Our plants also have additional defense-in-depth high-pressure systems capable of supplying water to the reactor. Our operators are trained to take additional steps should any of the back-up systems fail.

Monticello Plant Executive Director John Grubb said he was monitoring Japan but is 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, uprates 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.

Editor’s Note: Mike Schoemer, local editor of St. Michael Patch, worked in the shadows of the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant for three years as editor of the Monticello Times. During that time, the plant completed its above ground spent fuel storage site, ran several drills on various emergency scenarios with local first-responders and law enforcement, and completed its licensing process to keep the plant operational for the next 20 years. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, along with the Department of Homeland Security, oversaw most of these processes.