Radioactive tools missing at Prairie Island nuclear power plant

Radioactive tools missing at Prairie Island nuclear power plant

Jan 20 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Bob von Sternberg Star Tribune, Minneapolis

A half-dozen tools containing radioactive material have gone missing at the Prairie Island nuclear power plant.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission reported the incident Tuesday, a day after Xcel Energy, the plant's operator, informed the agency.

The agency reported that the missing tools were discovered last month during an inventory of the plant in Red Wing.

Although the tools contain levels of radioactivity that exceed some NRC regulations, an agency inspector found them "not to be of concern from a radiological standpoint."

Operators of the Prairie Island nuclear power plant twice violated federal nuclear safety rules in 2008, but the violations did not pose a safety threat to the public or plant workers.

State regulators last fall approved Xcel's request to increase power and radioactive waste storage at the plant.

The utility plans to spend $600 million to upgrade the plant so it can handle higher pressure and temperatures that could add 164 megawatts to its 1,000-megawatt capacity.