Prairie Island reactor shut down for refueling and maintenance

One of the two nuclear reactors at Prairie Island has been shut down for refueling and scheduled maintenance, Xcel Energy said Wednesday.

About 700 contractors will help plant staff replace about a third of the reactor’s uranium fuel and complete more than 1,300 maintenance work orders. The refueling process is expected to take two weeks or more, an Xcel spokeswoman said.

Xcel has enough generating capacity at its other plants to cover the shortfall while Unit 1 is refueled, she said.

The two reactors at the Prairie Island plant generated a record 8.89 million megawatt hours in 2007, surpassing the 2003 record of 8.83 million megawatt hours, Xcel said.

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