Xcel seeks 20-year license extension on two nuclear reactors

Xcel Energy asked federal regulators on Tuesday to extend its operating licenses on two Prairie Island nuclear reactors by an additional 20 years, following the move by other energy companies across the country that are also vying for noncarbon-based power.

Xcel's application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) seeks to extend its current 40-year operating licenses for the site to 60 years. Without the extension, Xcel's licenses on the Prairie Island reactors will expire in 2013 and 2014.

Xcel officials said a license extension on each 538-megawatt reactor would go a long way to increasing its power-generation capacity. The application process will take some time and require supporting materials at other agencies. The NRC, which has reviewed 48 of the 104 reactor operating licenses in the country, is not expected to make a decision on Prairie Island until 2010.

Xcel officials said they will submit a "certificate of need" application to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission this spring that asks to store an additional 35 fuel storage containers at the Prairie island site. Some 24 containers are currently stored at the 5 1/2-acre facility. Officials expect to have 29 by the time current operating licenses expire.

Xcel is also submitting a request to increase the power generation of each reactor by 80 megawatts, bringing the plant's total capacity to 1,240 MW.

Xcel's effort for Prairie Island duplicates requests it submitted earlier this year on behalf of its Monticello nuclear plant.

Some environmentalists and area residents balked at the requests, claiming that nuclear power is not safe and that nuclear waste storage poses potential health risks.

"The Prairie Island plant generates approximately 20 percent of the electricity used by our customers in the Upper Midwest and it has operated safely, reliably and economically for 35 years," said Dave Sparby, acting president and CEO of Xcel's Northern States Power subsidiary. "Our analysis shows that continuing to operate the Prairie Island reactors is a cost-effective option for meeting our customers' growing demand for electricity while helping us accomplish state policy makers' environmental objectives for carbon reductions."

Sparby also argued that nuclear power helps diversify fuel sources and "provides a valuable hedge on price risks and potential carbon regulation costs."

Xcel is required by the state to produce nearly a third of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.