NRC To Hold Public Forum On Prairie Island Safety

RED WING, Minn. (AP) — Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold a public meeting with representatives of Xcel Energy on Tuesday to discuss the agency's annual safety assessment for the Prairie Island Nuclear Power Plant.

The meeting, which will be open to the public, is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Red Wing High School. NRC staffers will present the results of the annual assessment, talk about the NRC and its range of activities, and be available to respond to questions or comments from the public.

Overall, the NRC says it found that the twin-reactor Prairie Island facility operated safely in 2011. The most serious issue involved potential failures in chargers for backup batteries for some of the plant's safety equipment. The agency says plant officials resolved the problem.

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Performance information for Prairie Island units 1 and 2 is available on the NRC website: Link 1, Link 2.

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